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NICK KHAN TALKS NETFLIX POTENTIALLY MINING WWE IP FOR CONTENT, POTENTIAL BEHIND THE SCENES SERIES, WHETHER THIS DEAL GIVES WWE BETTER AD PRICING POWER & MORE

WWE President Nick Khan appeared on Bloomberg TV earlier today to discuss the nuances of the WWE Netflix deal.  Some highlights from the appearance:

Reaction to the deal: "Look, we're pleased with the deal and we love the fact that Netflix was willing to take a bet on us. As we know, they had said previously.  They were not into sports rights. The good thing about WWE, it's sports entertainment. As you said, before a quick break there. So we're an entertainment property as much as we are a sports property.  52 weeks a year live. Consistent programming and audiences. that is actually quite global. If you look at India and India is not part of this deal. But if you look at India, we're the second most popular sport in India. If you look at the United Kingdom, we're the fourth most popular sport there. This deal will take effect in the UK.So in addition to the United States, it allows us to gain even a greater global footprint as we look to expand the business."

The future of their relationship with NBCU: "We continue to love NBCU.  We have Smackdown on USA premiering this October there. We have our premium live events, formerly our pay per views, like WrestleMania, on Peacock exclusively in the United States.  They've been tremendous. For us with Raw, it was a good bet by us, and we think a good bet by [Netflix.]

If there will be a Netflix upcharge for WWE content: "Correct. You're 100 percent correct. There is no upcharge for WrestleMania or the other premium live events anywhere in the globe where it's on Netflix.   No upcharge.  The 30 percent you talk about the traditional pay per view model, WWE was the first mover to get out of that. Space in 2014 when we started WWE Network, which brought WWE direct to consumer on our own OTT platform. From there, two or three years ago, we licensed that content to Peacock. That was when the streaming wars began.  What we realized was a company of our size, as great as we'd like to believe we are, we're not gonna compete technologically with the Amazons of the world, with the Netflixes of the world, with the NB. So it made sense to start it in 2014 to get rid of that excessive charge that InDemand, Dish, Direct were charging for pay per views and to bring the cost down for our consumer.  We think Netflix furthers that."

Whether the deal gives WWE better ad pricing power: "We think so. Look, you've seen what Amazon's been able to do on their ad supported tier.  This is going to have great success in that space. WWE, again, three hours a week on Raw.  Every week allows Netflix to monetize this deal in the advertising space in a way that has not been seen before."

Whether there may be exclusive Netflix series similar to what Formula One has done: "It would be a mistake by us at WWE to not do that with Netflix. So assume that what you said is exactly what  We're all thinking, we being Netflix and WWE, you saw what Drive to Survive did for Formula One, as you just mentioned.  We think the WWE audience, already big on a global level, only gets bigger with a show like that."

Netflix potentially digging into WWE Intellectual Property: "Keep in mind at WWE, we have a whole treasure trove of intellectual property that is largely untouched.  So if you look at what Disney has done, certainly that was through acquisition with marvel with lucasfilm. If you look what Warner Brothers Discovery did when they acquired DC Comics a long time ago, you now have this treasure trove at net that's available to produce. So things like The Undertaker, characters that have been created over time, we're looking forward to getting to all of that with Netflix as well."

Note from Mike: When Khan is talking about the IP, think of the previous Netflix special Escape The Undertaker as a potential example.

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