Report: NBCU To Keep WWE Raw At Triple The Rate, Smackdown Heading To Open Market

Sean Ross SappMay 17, 2018, 12:01 am

If a new report is to be believed, WWE is cashing in big on WWE Monday Night Raw, and will be looking to do the same for Tuesday's Smackdown Live — but the latter likely won't be on the USA Network.

Hollywood Reporter Editorial Director Matthew Belloni posted information Wednesday indicating that Smackdown Live could be done on the USA Network, while Raw is sticking around at triple the price they're currently making. WWE will seek a new home for Smackdown on the open market, effectively splitting their programming.

Interesting tidbit among all the TV news today: NBCU is letting WWE SMACKDOWN go to open bidding. They're keeping RAW but the deal is so big (3x current value, I'm told) that they're not re-signing both. Big sports opportunity for another network.

— Matthew Belloni (@THRMattBelloni) May 16, 2018

Smackdown Live moved to the USA Network July of 2016, after 17 years of appearing on SyFy, MyNetworkTV, UPN and others.

WWE's current NBCU deal generated $180 million for the 2017 year, but that also included rights to Smackdown Live. In addition to Raw and Smackdown, WWE produces Main Event and Superstars for their streaming Network service.

WWE wouldn't comment on the report when contacted by Fightful.com