Clarification On Why WWE SmackDown Is Staying On Hulu

News recently came out that WWE next-day content will be leaving Hulu, meaning another platform now could have the ability to pick up the content if a deal is agreed upon. However, "WWE SmackDown," which has been WWE's weekly blue brand since August 1999, will be staying on Hulu for the foreseeable future, unlike the rest of Hulu's WWE content.

"WWE on Hulu, as people may know here in the US, you can watch Raw and SmackDown on the next day," Brandon Thurston said on "Wrestlenomics." "You can watching Raw, and SmackDown, and NXT, and Main Event, Miz & Mrs., Total Divas, Total Bellas on Hulu until Saturday. All of that expiring, except for SmackDown. SmackDown is not expiring. That's clear from the Hulu interface, which labels all of the WWE content except for SmackDown as, 'Expiring Saturday,' apparently that deal is coming to an end Saturday."

"Why?" Thurston continued. "Well, if you think about, who owns the live rights for SmackDown? Fox does, and Fox sub-licenses the next-day rights to Hulu. Fox used to be a part owner of Hulu along with Comcast and Disney, no longer the case. That was part of the Fox-to-Disney transaction. If you watch SmackDown on Hulu, you're going to be able to watch SmackDown on Hulu for at least probably until the end of September 2024."

While "SmackDown" originally aired on UPN and later The CW, the show bounced around cable networks for years before its rights were purchased by Fox in a five-year deal in 2018.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestlenomics" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.