By Dean Seal

Shares of TKO Group Holdings fell after World Wrestling Entertainment said it would bring Friday Night SmackDown back to USA Network after airing for several years on Fox.

The stock was down 12% at $88.76 in early trading. Shares of the new publicly traded company formed by the combination of WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship began trading last week.

NBCUniversal's USA Network said Thursday that it has bought the premier WWE television-rights package in a five-year deal valued at about $1.4 billion, according to unnamed sources cited in a report by The Wall Street Journal. The new deal takes effect next fall.

SmackDown aired on USA Network from 2016 to 2019 before moving to Fox.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2023 10:31 ET (14:31 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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