Gabe Spitzer, the Vice President of Sports for Netflix, spoke with Andrew Marchand on the Main Event podcast about a variety of topics, including Netflix’s relationship with WWE. He explained that Netflix views WWE differently than traditional sports because it is genuinely sports entertainment.
Spitzer also mentioned that WWE saw Netflix as a platform that could help them grow internationally. He highlighted that all WWE content is available outside of the U.S. Additionally, he announced that they just launched in Italy and Germany, with plans to launch in Japan later this year.
Spitzer said, “We see it differently because it is truly that sports entertainment. It is a soap opera that has ebbs and flows throughout an entire year and when we started to talk to WWE, obviously, they have this incredibly loyal, passionate audience that will come for RAW which we have in the U.S. week in and week out. But I think they saw in us a platform that could help them grow around the world, and they’ve been incredible partners in that sense. We have all WWE content outside of the U.S. so that’s WrestleMania, it’s RAW, it’s SmackDown, and we’ve just launched in Italy, in Germany. We’re launching in Japan later this year.”
In 2024, Netflix and WWE announced that RAW would be available on the streaming service starting in January 2025. Netflix will serve as the home for RAW in the United States and several other countries. Additionally, it will also be the streaming platform for WWE pay-per-view events, NXT, and SmackDown in those same international markets.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
