Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel recently spoke on Bloomberg Live, which can be viewed below.
He discussed the UFC/WWE merger and also noted there is plenty of interest in WWE Raw.
Emanuel said they received a 40 percent increase for SmackDown. He also said Endeavor has the number one package available which is WWE Raw. The other two are UFC and the NBA. Emanuel noted that they are flexible, meaning that he does not have any schedule issues when it comes to Raw air on a Tuesday night, Thursday night, etc.
Emanuel did confirm that ‘NBC is out of the mix’, which is why the stock fell, as everyone thought Raw was the best package.
Back on September 21, it was announced that NBCUniversal and Endeavor agreed to a five-year domestic media rights deal that will bring WWE Friday Night SmackDown back to the USA Network beginning in October 2024. WWE will produce four specials once a year for NBC primetime.
The new deal is reportedly said to be worth $1.4 billion.