Insight from leading adtech firm Quantcast, highlights that since Netflix became the home of WWE at the start of this year, its two flagship shows have seen a significant increase in engagement on the open internet. WWE Raw has experienced a 34% increase, while WWE Smackdown has enjoyed a 40% increase.
The brand’s largest event of the year, WrestleMania 41, takes place over two nights this Easter weekend and amassed an addressable audience - the number of devices engaging with content aligned to that topic - of 35.8m in Q1. Quantcast’s CMO suggests this highlights a significant opportunity for brands to target this growing audience.
Amit Kotecha, CMO at Quantcast, says: “It’s been hard to miss the continued growth in popularity of WWE since Netflix picked up the broadcasting rights from TNT Sports at the start of the year. A rising tide lifts all boats, so to see the impact this has had not only on WWE, but engagement levels with wrestling in general, highlights the value of the content.
“The numbers tell a clear story, WWE’s move to Netflix has massively expanded its discoverable audience across the UK. This isn’t just about streaming metrics. We’re seeing real, measurable spikes in audience interest across the open web indicating new levels of engagement and intent. For marketers, this is gold.
“There’s a huge window of opportunity here. WrestleMania alone has an addressable audience of nearly 36 million people in the UK, brands need to ask themselves: how are we reaching that audience? Where are they spending time online? Are we showing up in the moments that matter? With real-time insights at their fingertips, advertisers don’t have to guess. They can find these audiences, in the right mindset, and act fast.
“From gaming to sports drinks, we’ve seen brands successfully align with WWE. But there’s room for more especially with WrestleMania broadcasting live over Easter weekend. This is a moment to be bold and strategic, not to stick to the same old Easter campaign playbook.”
The data also suggests that it’s not just WWE events brands should be keeping their eyes on though, as the popularity of wrestling challenger brands is on the rise too. All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which broadcasts on ITV4 in the UK and founded in 2019, had an equal addressable audience to WWE in Q1 2025. This was however a significant drop on Q4 2024, when it was outperforming WWE’s addressable audience by 39%.