ProSiebenSat.1 Group & WWE Sign Long-Term Rights Deal

March 13, 2014 World Screen Top Stories

UNTERFÖHRING: The ProSiebenSat.1 Group and WWE have agreed to a comprehensive long-term rights deal for free TV, pay TV and online platforms in Germany and Austria.

The agreement includes all WWE pay-per-view programming on maxdome as well as weekly episodes of SmackDown on ProSieben MAXX free TV and Monday Night Raw and NXT on ProSieben FUN pay TV. Starting April 5, WWE’s flagship programming WWE SmackDown will be broadcast on ProSiebenMAXX every Saturday at 11 p.m. WrestleMania 30 arrives shortly after on April 7 at 1 a.m., available online as a live pay-per-view event on maxdome.

“This cooperation with WWE creates tremendous added value for our viewers and customers. WWE is well recognized in Germany and has a loyal and growing fan base,” said Andreas Heyden, COO of ProSiebenSat.1 Digital. “We will be showcasing some of the very best programming WWE has to offer across our various platforms, including SmackDown on ProSieben Maxx and the huge event WrestleMania 30, which will be available live as a pay-per-view for the first time on www.maxdome.de.”

“This new deal with ProSiebenSat.1 provides WWE fans with a great choice of platforms with massive reach to follow the story line of WWE’s flagship programming,” said Stefan Kastenmueller, the general manager of WWE Germany. “Coupled with the increased activities from our team to bring the very best of all of our lines of business to the German market, including live events, PPV, consumer products and digital services, we are set to solidify WWE’s footprint in Germany.”