Just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past several weeks, WWE reached mega deals with both Raw and SmackDown Live with NBC and FOX totaling over $2 billion. The blue brand is scheduled to move over to FOX in October of 2019.
Former WCW President Eric Bischoff was recently interviewed by the New York Post to give his opinions on the major FOX deal. As a result of the WWE deals, Bischoff sees very little opportunities for promotions such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling to reach high-paying agreements from big companies. Although ROH, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, is shown on FOX affiliates, it is only in limited markets. In addition, Viacom decided to draw away from wrestling in 2014, as TNA left Spike TV.
Bischoff commented the difficulty of any other company landing a mega deal.
"Anybody who comes along and wants to sell a wrestling show, guess who you are not gonna sell it to? You are not going to sell it to FOX and any of its affiliates and, oh by the way, you are not going to sell it to NBC Universal or any of its affiliates," said Bischoff. "So the world in terms of one's ability to sell a traditional [wrestling] television show to a traditional television or broadcast partner has just collapsed."
Despite the big-money deals landed, Bischoff still believes that promotions other that the WWE can be successful. Especially, with the free streaming outlets such as YouTube and Facebook. "You no longer have to have a big record label behind you and have to kowtow to the politics that enabled you to get there," said Bischoff. "You can be a phenomenal artist and put your stuff out there on YouTube and find yourself becoming a star."