10 Clues That WWE Network Has Been A MAJOR Error
6. The Loss Of The Sky Sports Deal
WWE played it near the knuckle and very f*cking cheeky when they launched the Network within weeks of signing a new five year deal with Sky Television in 2014.
The agreement saw WWE remain positioned on the United Kingdom's leading satellite broadcaster for Raw and SmackDown, but harpooned Sky's pay-per-view income in the process. The television company apparently weren't to know that nobody would want to spend £15.00 per show as soon as the entire Network was going for five quid less.
Unfortunately, Vince McMahon had managed to get five more years from them, but this was to mark the end of the affair -three decades of coverage forgotten in an instant in order for McMahon to have his cake and eat it too. BT Sport were glad to take a major brand but said major brand has had to absorb a substantial drop in audience share as a result.
The UK audience got a fantastic deal from the Network in comparison to how things had been structured since they first started charging for shows in 1997 - but the Sky deal was as good as dead the day it launched.