According to a report from Deadline on Thursday, part of the newly created TKO Group, and NBCUniversal have 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 SmackDown has been on the FOX network on Friday night’s since October 2019, after the show left the USA Network in its Tuesday night time-slot.
It was also noted that WWE will also produce four specials a year for NBC primetime.
Deadline concluded by further noting that Raw, the top-rated flagship show that also airs on the USA Network on Monday night’s, is not part of this deal. The announcement notes that USA Network “is currently home to WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE NXT, “which will continue to air on USA Network through September of 2024.”
A number of players, which were not mentioned in the report are said to be bidding for Raw.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal is with $1.4 billion over five years.