Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: Russiaion, wrestling, wwe

WWE Ends Broadcast Partnership, Blocks WrestleMania in Russia

Published Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:17:09 -0600

The latest round of sanctions hitting Russia over the country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine come from the world of Sports Entertainment. WWE today announced they have terminated their broadcast partnership with Russian broadcaster Match and shut down the WWE Network in the country. The announcement went on to mention each of the company's weekly TV shows and the upcoming WrestleMania 38 event as content that will no longer be available in the country.

The official logo of the WWE.

The press release reads:

WWE® Terminates Broadcast Partnership and Shuts Down WWE Network in Russia
03/03/2022

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE released the following statement today:

"WWE has terminated its partnership with Russian broadcaster Match and shut down WWE Network in Russia effective immediately.

The move eliminates access in Russia to any WWE programming, including the company's weekly Raw, SmackDown and NXT shows, its on-demand library, and all of its premium live events, including WrestleMania 38."

WWE's announcement follows many other companies who have recently announced a cessation of sales and services in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, which has reportedly killed 227 civilians and injured 525 as of March 1st (two days ago), according to statistics released by the United Nations, which also notes the numbers are probably undercounted. The invasion has also resulted in over a million refugees fleeing the country. In recent days, Russia has increased shelling in major cities.

Sanctions from NATO, the U.S., the European Union, and other countries have become increasingly more severe since the invasion began on February 24th. As a result of the sanctions, which include removing major Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system, most of the companies who have announced the cessation of business in Russia would have likely had trouble getting money out of the country anyway, making the announcements mostly symbolic.

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