WWE announces multi-year partnership with live streaming platform Twitch

Investing.com -- World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) has announced a multi-year partnership with streaming platform Twitch.

The agreement will see the WWE channel and WWE Superstar channels return to Twitch, WWE said in a statement on Monday, adding that the deal will feature live and exclusive content.

A key part of this offering will be a companion sidecast to WWE's Monday Night RAW program that will be led by a "rotating cast of hosts" that will bring "the WWE Universe behind the scenes and closer to the in-ring action," the company noted.

WWE combines the worlds of sports and entertainment through a mixture of fighting, plot, and often colorful characters. In April, the business agreed to a $21 billion all-stock merger with Endeavor Group's Ultimate Fighting Championship. The tie-up is expected to close in the second half of 2023.

Twitch, which is owned by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), is an interactive platform that is best known for video game live streaming. It has just over 2.4 million viewers on a seven-day average, with many of those watching between the ages of 18 and 34, according to company data and publicity material.

Attracting younger viewers and adapting to their media consumption habits have become key challenges for the more than $80B North American sports market, a report from business intelligence firm Morning Consult found last December.

Nearly a third of sports fans from so-called Generation Z -- the cohort born between 1996 and 2010 -- say they watch live sports via authorized streaming platforms, the study said, while only 28% tune in through traditional broadcast or cable television.