J Sports to no longer carry WWE programming in Japan
J Sports and WWE’s 24-year partnership will be coming to an end, possibly leaving WWE without a major television partner in Japan.
J Sports issued a statement today announcing the end of their partnership with WWE effective December 31, 2021 for new programming and January 31, 2022 for on demand shows.
J Sports had been airing Raw and SmackDown live in English, plus one-hour highlights versions of the shows. Additionally, versions of the shows with Japanese subtitles have aired on J Sports.
WWE’s pay-per-view events have been available on the J Sports On Demand platform.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics tweeted:
“Other than 30-minute “This Week in WWE” updates on SamuraiTV and maybe syndicated regionally in some areas, I think WWE may be without a TV distributor in Japan in 2022.”
Subscribers to the J Sports WWE pack have until December 31 to cancel their subscriptions, or else they will be charged for January’s on demand content.
An F4WOnline Editor since 2019, Ethan has been covering wrestling and MMA since 2011. He has hosted The Wrestling Life Podcast since 2014, and is a former Baltimore Sun TV/Tribune Media contributor. He is also a Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles fan.