Netflix’sefforts to stream morelive sporting eventson its platform appear to be paying off.
The streaming giant’s debut episode of WWE Raw started strong, attracting more than 4.9 million viewers worldwide. According toVideoAMP, 2.6 million households in the US tuned into the event. That’s 116 percent higher than the 1.2 million US households who tuned into Raw on linear TV in 2024, and the highest of any WWE Raw broadcast in the past five years.
The debut episode of Raw wasn’t just attracting attention on Netflix either. On X, when the episode debuted, #WWERaw was the number one trending topic in the US, Brazil, Australia, and the UK. All this is good news for Netflix, whoagreed to a $5 billion dealto stream WWE’s flagship Raw program for the next decade.
Netflix is a global streaming service offering on-demand access to movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original content. Founded in 1997 as a DVD rental service, it transitioned to streaming in 2007 and now operates in over 190 countries.
Netflix scores another big sporting event for its platform
Netflix will be exclusively streaming the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031.
Netflix’s live events are showing signs of improvement
More live sporting events are coming to the platform
Last year, Netflix made its first significant foray into live sporting events by hosting theMike Tyson vs. Jake Paulboxing match. While the fight attractedrecord viewership numbers, it was also plagued by a myriad of technical issues, such as people’s stream constantly buffering or not loading at all. Luckily, with the debut episode of Raw, Netflix seems to have avoided any major technical issues.
Netflix also recently streamed theNFL Christmas Daygame live on its platform, which attracted over30 million global viewers, making it “Netflix’s most-watched Christmas Day ever in the US.” Netflix is working to expand its live sports offerings as well, recently signing a deal to stream theFIFA Women’s World Cupin 2027 and 2031 exclusively on Netflix in the US.
