Netflix 'Thrilled' With WWE Partnership So Far

Netflix's Vice President of Global Live Sports and Entertainment Gabe Spitzer has publicly praised the streaming service's relationship with WWE, telling the Sports Media podcast that Netflix are "thrilled with the results" just over 18 months into the relationship.

"They’ve been great partners, and we’re thrilled with the results so far. We knew in the US, you know, something like Raw, having that every week there’s going to be that passionate, loyal fan base and they’re going to show up and have come in expected ways over to Netflix in predictable ways. I think the place that we’ve been surprised, in a good way, that will continue to grow, is outside of the US, and that’s where we really see the potential to continue to grow this partnership. In the US, we have Raw only; outside of the US and in most countries around the world we’re the home for all of WWE," Spitzer said.

A 10-year partnership worth $5 billion between Netflix and WWE took effect in January 2025. Monday Night Raw airs on Netflix in the United States while Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and WWE pay-per-views are available on the streaming service in much of the world, including the United Kingdom.

One issue that has arisen since WWE began airing on Netflix is censorship from the streaming service, with blood being blurred out and curse words often being bleeped over during WWE events, something that has reportedly left people within WWE feeling "handcuffed" at times by Netflix.

Spitzer was asked about Netflix's ratings standards, with the Netflix executive claiming the streaming platform "try to be a little looser on that."

"Not often. Obviously, there are ratings standards that anyone has to adhere to. We’re Netflix, and we try to be a little looser on that. I think the place we’ve had conversations around locations, I also think it’s helped us. There have been examples where, even with the Raw coming up in a couple of weeks leading into a big Roman Reigns heavyweight championship match after the tournament they’ve done. The ability for us to promote three to four weeks out from a big Raw. Starting off the year, it was CM Punk vs. Bron Breakker for our first Raw of the year, those are the types of conversations we’ve had where, ‘Hey, if there’s a big matchup, can you let us know three-to-five weeks in advance so we can start promoting it outside of the PLEs you normally do,' and they’ve been very receptive to that," Spitzer added.

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