It's not just Fox and USA Network WWE deals with on a daily basis -- it's the interests of both company's affiliated streaming services. In part three, of our look at WWE's relationships with broadcast partners, we look at the streaming services.
When reaching out to one WWE source of influence about Fox not being happy about Peacock promotion, the WWE sources noted that had Fox wanted to pay for the rights to WWE PPVs to turn the tables, they could have bid for them for Fox's Tubi platform. Fox sources had reiterated to us that while there were some in the company that likely shared that frustration, they were happy to help promote major shows on Fox platforms because "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
On the other side of the coin, the sole person that Fighful spoke with connected to Peacock said that WWE's performance on the platform has appeared to be "exceptional," with more eyes landing on WWE PPV events than ever before, and that the relationship between the two sides seems good. There has been heavy criticism within WWE that the Peacock platform that they moved to is less polished and less user-friendly than the WWE Network that they moved from.
There were significant resources put in to hiring staffers to optimize SEO for the WWE Network, but we're told that the policies for such would change from day-to-day.
Although WWE doesn't have a streaming deal with Fox and Tubi we're told there's an ongoing issue with plans for a third-party wrestling company that had landed a deal with Tubi, which Fightful has since identified as Major League Wrestling. However, shortly before the deal was to be announced publicly, WWE were made aware of it. A source close to Fox that Fightful spoke with indicated that WWE did not respond favorably to the deal, which was to be announced imminently after WWE was made aware. As a result, the future of that third party deal was in question. In asking around for an official comment on the matter, Fightful did not get one from either MLW or WWE.
Despite perceived coexistence between Peacock and USA Network we're told by Mat Men's Andrew Zarian that Peacock did not permit Fox or USA Network's social media to post videos from Summerslam. Instead, the platforms were limited to GIFs.
Note: The sources that we speak to do not represent Fox, NBC Universal, Peacock, Tubi, The USA Network or WWE as a whole.
You can see our look at Fox at this link, and USA Network at this link.
