SmackDown does not have to remain on Friday nights should whoever earns the TV rights deal want to change things up.
We previously reported that SmackDown’s TV rights deal is anything but complete, while the USA network are expected to retain RAW and NXT, albeit with a slight price hike.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that “WWE isn’t married to Fridays” for SmackDown and could end up changing nights.
“They’re not married to Friday. They’re on Friday because FOX wanted them on Friday. If you remember, they were on Tuesday for a long time. They’d been on Thursday, they’d been on, basically on the night that the network that owns the rights wants them to be on. So perhaps there’s another night that ABC would want them, or perhaps they want them to boost FOX, which they will boost greatly because it’s the number one show on a weekly basis when it comes to cable, on a year-round basis, 52 weeks a year. I mean, it’s not always number one. I mean, obviously, football is always going to beat it. Big sports events will always beat it. But it’s a steady performer. It’ll be a steady performer week in and week out.”
Dave Meltzer
We will have to wait and see which network SmackDown will end up on, but right now the focus is all on the Endeavor deal completing, along with the WWE and UFC officially completing their merger.
H/T to Ringside News
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