From Pac and Big promos to Empire promos: WWE headed to Fox in 2019?

RammerJammer

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WWE’s television rights will soon be up for grabs, and it seems NBC Universal will face a serious challenge if it hopes to retain them.
As first pointed out by Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, several Fox Sports figures, including president Eric Shanks and TV/radio host Colin Cowherd, sat front row Tuesday night at WWE Smackdown in Los Angeles. Their presence would seem to indicate a serious level of interest in wrestling rights — and a serious level of interest on WWE’s part in making a partnership happen.

Fox has been previously reported to have desire to acquire WWE rights or even buy the company outright. Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer reported last month that Fox would bid aggressively to air WWE but only if it failed to re-up with UFC. In that case, Raw (which has aired on the NBCU-owned USA Network for nearly its entire 25-year run) would reportedly be broadcast on the Fox flagship channel, which would mark the first time it ever aired on network TV.
NBCU’s deal with WWE expires in the fall of 2019.
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand shared Wednesday morning that Fox Sports has offered $200 million for UFC media rights, substantially higher than the $120 million it currently pays, but well short of the $450 million yearly windfall being discussed when the UFC was sold to Endeavor in 2016.
Even though Fox seems likely to wind up with only one of WWE and UFC, it’s clear that the network is quite willing to open its wallet these days. Months before airing its first men’s World Cup, having pried those rights away from ESPN, Fox spent $550 million to secure rights to the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package. Add in hefty bids for wrestling and MMA, and you’ve got a network unafraid of any sports rights bubble.
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Unsolved: The Murder Of Lucious Lyon :wow:
 
AquaCityBoy

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I was watching FS1 all morning yesterday, and they talked about WWE with more reverence than they usually do, particularly when discussing Gronk potentially retiring from football and joining WWE.

Colin Cowherd talked about being at Smackdown on his shows too. He also went backstage and met Stephanie and took pictures with Nattie and Charlotte.

Pretty clear they're trying to establish some kind of relationship with Fox Sports if a move is on the table. And if the Disney deal is approved, they'll probably have a lot of money and time slots to fill with more sports.
 
RammerJammer

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AquaCityBoy said:
I was watching FS1 all morning yesterday, and they talked about WWE with more reverence than they usually do, particularly when discussing Gronk potentially retiring from football and joining WWE.

Colin Cowherd talked about being at Smackdown on his shows too. He also went backstage and met Stephanie and took pictures with Nattie and Charlotte.

Pretty clear they're trying to establish some kind of relationship with Fox Sports if a move is on the table. And if the Disney deal is approved, they'll probably have a lot of money and time slots to fill with more sports.
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Yeah and keep in mind Cowherd has shytted on Pro Wrestling for years so clearly the higher ups at Fox Sports told Cowherd to get out of his feelings and go to SmackDown.
 
TransJenner

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If they do choose Fox I hope for the love of god they completely change there production
It's not even "LOLKEVINDUNNSUCKS"


It's just so bad
 
Rev

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they're probably doing their best to court FOX and/or scare NBC Universal.

FOX is looking for content to air since they're losing a lot of the original programming they'll have with the sale to Disney. They have the NFL, and i think investing in the WWE vs. the UFC is great.
 
trick

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Rev said:
they're probably doing their best to court FOX and/or scare NBC Universal.

FOX is looking for content to air since they're losing a lot of the original programming they'll have with the sale to Disney. They have the NFL, and i think investing in the WWE vs. the UFC is great.
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Maybe they just want to do what Spike did and use WWE as a lead-in to the UFC? The last few UFC cards have been lacking in star power and ratings, and they need all the help they can get.
 
daemonova

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we need more sports programming on the local networks, i'm all for it
 
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