Netflix got what it expected out of Raw in the United States. The part the streamer did not see coming is everything happening outside it.
Gabe Spitzer, Netflix’s Vice President of Global Live Sports and Entertainment, laid out that split on the September 8 episode of Richard Deitsch’s Sports Media podcast, roughly a year and a half into the company’s first live sports entertainment deal.
“We knew in the US, with something like Raw, having that every week, there was going to be that passionate and loyal fanbase that was going to show up. They have come in expected ways over to Netflix. It ticked every metric we hoped for on the US side,” Spitzer said.
The growth, in his telling, is coming from somewhere else entirely.
“The place where we’ve been surprised, in a good way, that will continue to grow is outside of the US. That’s really where we see the potential and continue to grow this partnership,” he said.
The distinction matters because the product is not the same in both places. Netflix carries Raw only in the United States, while in most other countries it houses the full WWE library and weekly slate.
Spitzer pointed to Italy as the live example. Netflix picked up WWE’s Italian rights this year, and WWE ran Clash in Italy, the company’s first Premium Live Event in the country, from the Inalpi Arena in Turin on May 31.
“They’re working with us and saying, ‘What are the countries you want to continue to grow and how can we boost that viewership?’ They’re going back to Australia; they’ve been to Europe; they’re going to Mexico for a big Raw,” he said.
Mexico City Is The Next Test
That Raw airs September 14 from Arena CDMX, where Roman Reigns (c) defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Penta. Penta earned the shot by winning an eight-man tournament of WWE and AAA talent that Rey Mysterio announced in his role as AAA general manager.
Netflix’s read on the partnership is warmer than the one coming out of WWE’s production truck. Spitzer also said this week that the two sides rarely discuss blood or cursing, comments that follow a report claiming some in WWE’s post-production department feel handcuffed by Netflix’s restrictions after the censorship on the August 31 Raw.
