WWE have announced a new German television deal, just days after losing their agreement with Tele5.
WWE has come to terms with Prosieben Maxx on a multi-year deal to air Raw and Smackdown. Tele5 dropped WWE last week, after having issues gaining interest from sponsors. WWE sent Fightful.com a press release regarding the move, which you can check out below.
WWE® AND PROSIEBEN MAXX ANNOUNCE MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR FLAGSHIP PROGRAMS RAW® AND SMACKDOWN®
MUNICH, Germany and STAMFORD, Conn. 26 September, 2016 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) and ProSiebenSat1’s sports business cluster, 7Sports, today announced a new multi-year agreement to televise WWE’s flagship programs Raw® andSmackDown® in German on ProSieben MAXX, beginning in April 2017. This marks the first time both shows have aired on the same free-to-air channel in Germany.
“We are proud that we were able to secure this deal for ProSieben MAXX,” said Zeljko Karajica, CEO, 7Sports. “This gives us the opportunity to extend our WWE coverage and make sports entertainment even more popular in Germany.”
“Sports entertainment programming is in great demand with our viewers, and we are thrilled to announce that as of 2017, ProSieben MAXX will be Germany’s number one TV channel for WWE programs,” said René Carl, Managing Director, ProSieben MAXX.
“ProSieben MAXX shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining WWE fans,” said Ed Wells, WWE Executive Vice President, International. “This partnership creates one primary destination in ProSieben MAXX for fans to enjoy our unique blend of action-packed, family entertainment.”
ProSieben MAXX has aired SmackDown since April 2014. WWE’s popularity in Germany continues to grow, with more than half a million viewers on average tuning in to WWE TV programming each week.
ProSieben MAXX will also serve as a marketing partner for WWE Live in Frankfurt on Wednesday, November 2 at Festhalle starting at 7pm; Munich on Thursday, November 3 at Olympiahalle starting at 7pm; Oberhausen on Tuesday, November 8 at the Koenig-Pilsner Arena starting at 7pm; and Berlin on Wednesday, November 9 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena starting at 7pm. Tickets are available at www.eventim.de.
