Fox Likely Not Interested In Picking Up SmackDown Live

It looks like USA Network won’t be keeping SmackDown Live when their contract goes up for renewal which is not only a pretty big hit to WWE but it also means that WWE’s Blue Brand will need to find a new home.

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Fox doesn’t want SmackDown on its own because there won’t likely be any interest without Raw as well. But Raw is rumored to be renewed on NBC Universal for three times the current value which will be around $240 million for WWE’s Monday Night show.

“They’ll get interested in SmackDown somewhere, it’s live programming.”

“Fox is interested in Raw still I can tell you that %100 it may just be USA isn’t interested in bidding for SmackDown, they are interested in bidding for Raw and we’ll see how this plays out. But the news in this is that they’re getting a big increase.”

But Raw being worth what it is along with the fact that WWE’s stock prices are doing outstanding right now probably means there will be plenty of interest for SmackDown Live somewhere.

But as Meltzer continued to discuss the matter, Fox doesn’t seem to be interested in SmackDown Live on their flagship channel.

“Fox is not going to put SmackDown on Fox that’s not going to happen I don’t think. They were very much putting Raw on big Fox — SmackDown I don’t see it. Okay now we’re talking about do you want to spend that kind of money on a Tuesday night show on FS1? The problem is with FS1 when you’re talking about baseball or basketball playoffs or things like that there are sporting events on Tuesday nights.”

It was noted preempting the show wouldn’t need to be something that happens all the time but it could present an issue. Therefore, Fox doesn’t seem to be interested in just SmackDown Live and even if they wanted the property it might not end up on a channel that would be best for the program considering FS1’s lower viewership.

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