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What’s the story?
WWE are approaching the deadline for the television deal and FOX Sports have continued to show interest in the program.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reported that three key figures of FOX Sports were present in the front row during the SmackDown Live episode last night.
In case you didn’t know...
WWE’s TV rights contract with USA Network will come to an end in 2019 and many companies have expressed interest in bringing professional wrestling to their network.
The heart of the matter
FOX Sports is currently the home of UFC, but the uncertainty surrounding the MMA promotion’s decision to stay with FOX Sports 1 is rumoured to have been the primary reason that the company is seeking another franchise to potentially replace UFC if it leaves.
The three-hour Raw format is an aspect of TV that fans have been calling to end for years and might be possible if the company were to leave USA Network for FOX Sports.
The additional hour for Raw was added to the flagship program in 2012 and brought the total hours of WWE content on the USA Network to five.
WWE and USA Network were rumoured to be considering bringing NXT to the channel as a means of maintaining the five hours of content and allowing Raw to return back to its two-hour format. This NXT rumour was reinforced by the episode of the Wednesday night program that aired on USA Network during December 2017 as a test run for the channel.
What’s next?
FOX’s interest in WWE shouldn’t be ignored and could work in the wrestling company’s favour if USA Network and FOX Sports present strong enough deals to sway WWE one way or the other.
Author’s take
WWE still have plenty of time to weigh their options before 2019 comes around, so expect to hear a lot more about their TV rights conundrum as the year progresses.
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