Have we ever seen anything as unique as what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has done and continues to do in the business of sports?
On Tuesday, The Rock continued his impressive business ascent by being a part of two announcements from TKO, the parent of WWE and UFC.
First, the company announced that it had signed a massive new 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix for the rights to flagship show Raw. This gives the streaming powerhouse its first major live sports property that it has been long-rumored to be interested in acquiring. The company had dipped its toe in the water with events such as the in-house golf tournament The Netflix Cup and tennis tournament, The Netflix Slam, but snatching the long-running and ever-popular Raw from USA Network was a major coup for the company.
“This is a super game changer,” said TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro in an interview. “When you look back at the chapters of sports media history, new chapters are driven by extraordinary new paradigms. ESPN and Turner bringing NFL to cable in 1987. Rupert Murdoch bringing football to Fox in 1994. When new histories are written, Raw on Netflix will be such a chapter starter.”
The deal begins in January 2025 and gives Netflix the global rights to Raw and international rights (outside of the U.S.) to WWE properties such as SmackDown, NXT, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble.
The second part of TKO’s major announcement involved the most electrifying man in all of sports entertainment.
The company announced that it signed a deal The Rock which included adding him to its board of directors and signing a licensing deal where WWE will have the ability to use his name, likeness and other intellectual property for up to 10 years. In exchange, the Rock will be paid $30 million in TKO stock (the shares vest in four sums through the end of 2025). The deal also gave Johnson full ownership of “The Rock” name that had been held by WWE.
That’s a major move for Johnson, who continues to build his brand outside of the ring where he rose to become a superstar.
“I owe that name everything,” Johnson said. “Without that name there’d be no wrestling career. There’d be no Hollywood career.”
Johnson’s rise in entertainment is well documented. But his rise in business deserves more attention.
After dominating at the box office, he has gone on to amass a business portfolio that includes his production company Seven Bucks Productions, energy drink company ZOA Energy, tequila brand Teremana Tequila and Project Rock apparel brand in partnership with Under Armour.
And while he was building those brands, he also managed to buy the XFL along with his business partner/ex-wife, Dani Garcia. After a single season, the league merged with the USFL at the end of 2023 and will relaunch this spring as the UFL. Johnson and Garcia will retain their ownership of the league along with three other partners.
The Rock also has a massive social following that includes 17.1 million followers on Twitter/X and 395 million followers on Instagram.
Johnson continues to expand his empire, and most impressive is that he’s doing it outside of the ring he grew up in while maintaining the personality he developed in the ring.
“My crazy life is coming full circle,” Johnson said.
