During the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference held yesterday, John Allen, the Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of 21st Century Fox, talked about FOX acquiring the broadcast rights of Smackdown Live starting in October 2019.
“It’s a 50 to 52-week-a-year sport with no repeats. It’s a new novella every week,” Nallen said as reported by TheWrap.com. “For us to have that kind of appointment programming, that audience, every week of the year, is a really unique opportunity for us.”
The new, five-year deal between WWE and FOX is worth $1.025 billion, with FOX paying WWE $205 million per year for the show. With the move to FOX, Smackdown will also change days and will start airing live on Friday nights.