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Sports Business Daily published a new article on how the new WWE contract with Fox marked the end of more than two years of negotiations between television networks seeking to enter into agreements with WWE and the United States. ; UFC. Endeavor worked on the $ 1.5 billion five-year deal between UFC and ESPN, while the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) reached a $ 2.34 billion deal between WWE and NBCUniversal & Fox.
* While considering a future with or without UFC, Fox began watching other sports content to fill nights on its broadcast network as part of a new strategy focused on programming in live in prime time. It seems that Fox has started to be interested in WWE in 2017 and that Fox insiders have been attracted by the high ratings and passionate fans of WWE.
* The WWE trading period with NBCU lasted until mid-May. The networks had a major problem: Endeavor owns the UFC and Ari Emanuel Endeavor is friends with Vince McMahon, who asked Ari to get closer to them. The networks did not feel comfortable negotiating with the same person who was working on behalf of two competing sports brands, which was perceived as a conflict of interest and the networks made it clear to those responsible WWE. Endeavor's rival, shortly after a WWE show in Los Angeles in the spring of 2017 when Fox Sports president Eric Shanks pushed Vince to the side to report the conflict of interest.
* Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, George Barrios, Co-Chair, and Michelle Wilson, Co-Chair, met with ESPN leaders four times between December 2017 and Spring. ESPN had increased its coverage of the WWE and was receptive to the talks but it was soon clear that an agreement was not going to be reached. The problem between ESPN and WWE boils down to programming as RAW & SmackDown are produced each week and ESPN can not afford to sport 52 weeks in a year.
* ESPN considered WWE programming for their ESPN + streaming service but would have directly competed with the WWE network.
* WWE quickly targeted Fox and said they were interested. Fox did the same. Shanks and other Fox executives were screened at the camera during a RAW show in May 2017 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. WWE was still in the exclusive window with NBCU, which ran until mid-May, but Stephanie, Triple H and other WWE leaders made a point to visit the Fox Lot for a meeting informal. WWE told Fox executives that they could not discuss the terms of a potential deal until the exclusive NBC window was closed, but both parties were interested.
* Bonnie Hammer, WWE long-time friend and NBCU chair of the WWE renewal talks. Mark Lazarus, president of NBC Broadcasting & Sports, oversees all major sports rights negotiations for NBCU but considers that WWE is an entertainment property, so Hammer led the discussions while he participated in the strategic sessions and gave advices. NBCU officials knew that Fox was interested in WWE but they thought WWE would eventually stay on the US network. They also thought that WWE fans wanted consistency because they knew where they could go to RAW on Mondays and SmackDown on Tuesdays.
![FOX owner Rupert Murdoch reportedly told WWE that the US network was [19659009] averaged $ 130 million annually for each show in previous transactions and this figure was considered well below market value by network executives. The WWE officials knew that they were negotiating from a strong position and decided to split their TV offer in half. CAA told Hammer that she wanted $ 265 million a year for RAW and $ 200 million a year for SmackDown - an increase of 358%. The exclusive NBCU window was closed on May 16 and they informed WWE that they would take RAW for $ 265 million, but they would not renew SmackDown. The next day, WWE leaders visited Fox's New York office for the meeting that included Rupert Murdoch. The $ 205 million a year agreement that would bring the blue mark back to Friday was reached that day, with both parties quickly realizing that they were close to an agreement. WWE signed the five-year SmackDown agreement with Fox and renewed a five-year RAW contract with NBCU for the United States. </p>
<p> * It has been noted that Fox and WWE officials are still planning a celebration once they are all in the same city. 19659011] (function (d, s, id) {<br />
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