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WWE’s deal with Hulu, the streaming service Disney is the majority owner of, has been on the verge of expiring for several weeks now. The partners kept extended the date when some content — specifically next-day abbreviated replays of Raw* — would be pulled so they could continue negotiations.
On WWE’s investor call after the release of Q3 financials today (Nov. 2), it was revealed that a deal has been struck. WWE’s Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer Frank Riddick said the deal is a short-term one that his side apparently made some concessions in order to get done. Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston theorized this was in order to line up the expiration dates on WWE’s various right deals:
Riddick says, in discussions with Hulu we expressed out desire to align timing with live rights. WWE is pleased with outcome but with cause a "mild headwind".
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) November 2, 2022
Sounds like WWE settled for less money from Hulu in exchange for getting the deal to expire with live rights Sep 2024.
Co-CEO Nick Khan also announced a new project for Hulu, a series focused on Bianca Belair & Montez Ford. There were no details on that show, but it seems safe to assume it will be a reality program along the lines of Miz & Mrs.
* FOX sub-licenses all of its next-day rights to Hulu, so SmackDown was always going to stay on the streamer for the duration of its current live rights deal.
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