WWE and ESPN recently released a joint announcement, citing that ESPN will be the home for all Premium Live Events for domestic viewers, from 2026 onward. WWE President Nick Khan has since sat down for an interview with "Varsity," where he commented on the success of the WWE-Netflix deal in light of their new ESPN deal.
"Our international ratings are up everywhere. Our domestic viewership? Up. In certain countries, we're up, like, a thousand percent," Khan claimed, zeroing in on how the Netflix interface is universal all over the world, making it comfortable for viewers to watch and find WWE wherever they go in the world. Khan also praised Netflix for taking the CNN International model and improving upon it. "Netflix took that and expanded it a thousand times forward, so it's been a phenomenal partnership with great executives."
"What we decided years ago, here at WWE, was you can't just pipe out American content internationally and expect that people are gonna show up," Khan explained when justifying WWE's international model. "Forty percent of our Premium Live Events, this year, took place outside of North America," he added. "The audience shows up. One thing that we think is exclusive to WWE, because it is Sports Entertainment, and it's not just a sport, our delayed viewership is significant." Khan claimed that many fans tend to rewatch the matches despite seeing the outcomes online, unlike traditional sports.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Varsity" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
