Can you smell what Netflix and the WWE are cooking?

The answer to that question would be yes – a partnership.

The streamer and wrestling company announced a deal yesterday, reportedly worth $5 billion over 10 years, that will bring WWE’s Raw – currently the most-watched show on USA Network with 17.8 million viewers – to Netflix in the US starting in 2025. Outside the US, Netflix will also be the home of SmackDown, NXT, and WWE’s premium live events (including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam).

This is Netflix’s first major foray into live sports/entertainment. The streamer has taken a sports-adjacent content route – producing shows like Drive to Survive (F1), for example – and has long said it has no desire to acquire live sports rights.

But, according to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the WWE isn’t necessarily sports – it’s “sports entertainment.” And the prospect of boosting the streaming platform’s ads business has Netflix execs acting like Ric Flair just showed up at the office (woo!).

• Wells Fargo analysts estimate that Raw alone will generate $200+ million annually in advertising revenue for Netflix.
• The streamer recently revealed that its ads tier surpassed 23 million monthly active users (but MAUs aren’t the same as paying subscribers; the streamer hasn’t revealed actual subscriber figures or how much revenue its ads-tier has generated).

📸 Big picture: Netflix posted Q4 earnings yesterday, beating analysts’ expectations on new subscribers and revenue while slightly missing on earnings.