Netflix acquired the rights to air WWE’s popular weekly wrestling program “Raw,” the company announced Tuesday morning, marking the streaming giant’s first significant foray into sports programming.
Wrestler Roman Reigns celebrates after winning WWE's Royal Rumble.
Starting next January, Netflix will exclusively stream “Raw” in the U.S. and abroad and air the wrestling circuit’s other major weekly program, “Smackdown,” and pay-per-view events outside of the U.S.
Shares of Netflix climbed 2% following the announcement, while shares of WWE parent TKO Group rose more than 20%.
Netflix, the world’s most valuable entertainment-first company, will report fourth-quarter and full-year financial results Tuesday afternoon. Analysts project Netflix to disclose its most profitable year ever.
In a separate Tuesday announcement, TKO Group nominated former wrestler and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to its board of directors.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated…