Fox Sports executives at WWE SmackDown fan flames of WWE to Fox rumors
By Adam Stocker
Fox Sports executives were in the front row of Tuesday night’s edition, furthering speculation that the network is interested in WWE’s television rights.
It’s no secret that the WWE’s television rights deal with USA Network is up in the near future. On Wednesday, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated tweeted that Fox Sports executives were in the front row of Tuesday’s SmackDown taping, furthering speculation that the network is interested in the WWE rights. Fox Sports reportedly views the WWE’s television rights as an alternative should they lose the rights to the UFC.
In the front row last night at the WWE Smackdown show in L.A.: Fox Sports president Eric Shanks, Fox Sports talent producer Jacob Ullman and Fox Sports talker Colin Cowherd.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) February 28, 2018
Fox Sports President and COO Eric Shanks was front row with Jacob Ullman and Colin Cowherd. Shanks is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations, and most importantly, programming for Fox Sports. Ullman is a vice president, production and talent development. Cowherd hosts Speak for Yourself on FS1 and The Herd, a radio show on Fox Sports Radio and simulcasted on FS1, where he has been critical of wrestling fans (and wrestling itself, for that matter) in the past.
Fox’s rights deal with the UFC expires around the same time that the WWE’s deal expires with USA, and Fox reportedly views WWE as a potential replacement programming. Raw and SmackDown produce five hours of programming per week. Fox’s interest could create a bidding war for the WWE rights when they become available. In the last round of television rights negotiations, WWE was disappointed to find the market was softer than anticipated. Ultimately, the WWE decided to re-sign with USA Network, where Raw has aired for most of its 25 years.
The UFC is reportedly looking for around upwards of $400 million annually for their television rights. Fox is currently paying the UFC $120 million per year and may not be interested in paying more than triple the fee for the same rights. The WWE’s current rights deal pays them $180 million per year with USA Network. However, Fox’s interest could help the WWE get an increase in their rights fees.
With Vince McMahon relaunching the XFL in 2020, moving to Fox Sports would make sense for the football league. McMahon could try selling XFL and WWE rights as a package to any potential bidders. By selling both packages to Fox Sports, McMahon could potentially get a bigger financial return. It would also provide the XFL with more stability than it had in its first run.