‘WWE Friday Night SmackDown’ to return to USA Network in $1.4 billion deal

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WWE “Friday Night SmackDown” will return to USA Network in a new deal announced Sept. 21, 2023.

TKO Group Holdings and NBCUniversal have signed a new five-year deal to bring the Friday night professional wrestling program back to USA.

The deal is reportedly worth a total of $1.4 billion.

USA previously aired the show from 2010 to 2019, when it moved to Fox. USA also airs “WWE Raw,” but that is covered by a separate agreement that the WWE says it will start renegotiating in 2024.

NBCUniversal is reportedly paying about 40% more than the $1 billion Fox was paying for the rights.

The deal also calls for WWE to produce four primetime specials for NBC starting with the 2024-2025 television season.

NBCU will also offer its “WWE Hub” on Peacock and will presumably bolster that with “SmackDown” related content.