Why Netflix’s WWE ‘Raw’ has advertisers divided—and what media buyers are looking for in brand deals

Advertisers are chasing live content in streaming because it offers two must-haves: large audiences and engaged viewership—both increasingly rare in the fragmented TV space. So when Netflix announced last year it would air live WWE “Raw” matches in 2025, serving ads to all subscribers regardless of subscription tier, it seemed like a no-brainer for brands. But not all live sports are equal for advertisers. While brands such as Cricket Wireless and Angry Orchard see a prime opportunity in “Raw,” some buyers are holding back, waiting to see how the so-called “Netflix Effect” reshapes WWE’s brand appeal globally, according to conversations with 11 media buyers. See all of Ad Age’s 2025 Agency A-List winners here “Raw” is Netflix’s first weekly live show with ad breaks—what one media buyer called “traditional TV all over again,” but for younger audiences. The weekly airings “are going to create a new kind of consumption habit for Netflix viewers that don’t have a cable connection, and maybe haven’t ever,” said the buyer, speaking on condition of anonymity. As the 2025-2026 upfront approaches, media buyers will look at how Netflix can expand upon its WWE rights as it pitches future opportunities within the “Raw” franchise. A second media buyer said wrestling is already accessible to advertisers through many media partners, and Netflix’s initial offering didn’t differentiate enough to drive demand for scarce opportunities at launch. Netflix announced last week that it had sold out of its WWE “Raw” sponsorships positions for 2025, nearly a year after pitching the wrestling franchise at its 2024 upfront and just over two months into its run on the platform. Also read: TV’s new ad leaders strategize for the upfronts The first episode of “Raw” on Netflix, which aired on Jan. 6, was watched live and on-demand by 4.9 million viewers globally in its first day, according to the company, which defines a view as total viewed hours divided by runtime. The stream averaged 2.6 million U.S. households, according to VideoAmp, the highest for the Monday night “Raw” franchise over the past five years. The program has continued to average more than 2 million views per week since its debut, according to Netflix. For Boston Beer Company’s Angry Orchard, the audience fits with its strategy to embed itself within niche audiences, according to Matt Withington, senior director, Angry Orchard and Truly. The opportunity can maximize higher-priced investments in TV and streaming, with Withington pointing to the ratings growth on Netflix as evidence of growing brand value for WWE because streaming “means bigger audiences and bigger impact.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mike "The Miz" Mizanin (@mikethemiz) Advertisers can buy into Netflix’s WWE Raw at a number of price points, according to three media buyers as well as two pitch decks reviewed by Ad Age. The base cost for a 30-second commercial in “Raw” is $14,000, with scaling packages based on the number of weeks a marketer wants to advertise, each requiring a minimum of three units per event. A four-week package (including 12 commercial units) costs just under $160,000, a slight discount to the base unit rate. The largest package includes 78 units over 26 weeks, costing more than $750,000 at a significant per-unit discount. Each package includes bonus units, two for the smallest package and up to eight for the largest, that can be added to the WWE streams or exchanged for similarly priced inventory across Netflix. The media units are guaranteed 1.08 million impressions per unit. Netflix tapped VideoAmp as the third-party measurement provider for its weekly WWE Raw programming. Netflix also offered larger sponsorships including access to media inventory, “presented by” graphics, in-show billboards, lower-third graphics and additional brand integrations. These packages also come with a number of included ad units, scaling in price from about $140,000 (includes six units) to nearly $3.4 million (180 ad units included) for the most premium. Netflix declined to comment on its “Raw” ad deals. Data-Driven Marketing Playbook Join us May 22 in NYC to explore how data powers marketing Learn more here Angry Orchard began its partnership with WWE this year alongside the launch of its brand platform “Don’t Get Angry, Get Orchard.” It’s the brand’s first partnership with the wrestling franchise, which includes custom content for digital platforms and co-branded marketing on Spotify as well as sponsorships in Netflix’s “Raw,” USA’s “SmackDown!” and WWE gaming show “UpUpDownDown.” Outside of WWE, Angry Orchard doesn’t buy media on linear TV and primarily focuses on digital marketing and streaming, said Withington. The “Raw” sponsorship is Angry Orchard’s first deal with Netflix. But the franchise overall matched the beer maker’s objective to appear in “off-beat” environments, which also include horror and gaming media. Withington said that social content created in collaboration with WWE is the brand’s most engaging content of the past 12 months. And while Angry Orchard is still monitoring performance in the live shows, the marketer cited research that WWE fans are 70% more likely to purchase brands showcased in the content. Cricket Wireless, meanwhile, has been a WWE partner for almost a decade. The brand was a presenting sponsor for “Raw” on Netflix on Feb. 24 and March 3, with additional integrations and ads during the current season. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cricket Wireless (@cricketwireless) While WWE isn’t new for Cricket, its move to Netflix was a must-have, offering the opportunity to reach audiences who don’t watch WWE on linear TV, said Candii Woodson-Witchard, director of media, Cricket and AT&T Prepaid. The franchise overlaps with Cricket’s target audience of young consumers seeking low-cost services, and Cricket’s WWE-oriented marketing also runs across the Netflix platform, according to Woodson-Witchard. “We find that [live TV] performs exceptionally well for us,” said Woodson-Witchard. With “how people watch TV these days—on their phones, TV in the background, multitasking—they are really locked in with live events.” The media director said that live events also increase performance in social and side programming as fans seek outlets to discuss and follow the franchise and talent. Both Angry Orchard and Cricket work with Omnicom media agency Hearts & Science. Recent “Raw” sponsors on Netflix have also included Snickers, TurboTax, Wingstop and MinuteMaid. Still, some brands have been hesitant to buy into the franchise. A third media buyer said WWE “gets a bit of an eye roll” when brought up to clients; a fourth said clients shrug it off as “not highbrow or family-friendly” and two other media buyers said it takes a very specific type of advertiser to put WWE on a media plan. “WWE reaches an amazing audience—passionate, young, diverse, engaged, skews male—but the reality is we just don’t have a lot of clients that want to be in that environment,” said a fifth media buyer, noting that even when they shared data showing a valuable overlap between the WWE audience and a client’s goals it was difficult to change preconceived notions of the franchise. Unlike cable, Netflix is “able to build a library out of WWE—take cuts from it, make specials or documentaries and, potentially, more opportunities for advertisers to engage WWE fans,” said a sixth media buyer. The buyer used examples of what the streamer calls “The Netflix Effect” in surging interest for Formula 1 racing or the so-called “eventizing” of its Christmas Day NFL games with the Beyoncé halftime show that is now available to rewatch on its own. More broadly, live events in streaming is still a relatively young marketplace. Many air regularly without a hitch, such as Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football.” But the negative reactions to glitchy streams such as Netflix’s Tyson-Paul boxing match (which still drew 65 million concurrent streams, per Netflix) or Hulu’s Academy Awards coverage, are enough to make some advertisers nervous, per the fifth buyer, even if Tubi’s stream of Super Bowl LIX, for example, is capable of drawing 13.6 million viewers. For viewers who have tuned into live events on streaming platforms within the past year, 64% have reported feed disruptions, according to consumer analytics firm CivicScience. “We’ve got to get it right in streaming—things are fraught with peril,” said the fifth buyer, who added that the uncertainty doesn’t mean advertisers can wait for improvements. On the contrary, live sports and events are a necessity for advertisers, and it’s in the best interest of advertisers and media companies to lean in and improve the experience as consumers demand access to major TV events in streaming, according to the buyer.

Why Netflix’s WWE ‘Raw’ has advertisers divided—and what media buyers are looking for in brand deals

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