J Sports To Discontinue WWE Programming In Japan
Japanese broadcaster J Sports announced Thursday that they will no longer be airing WWE programming effective Jan. 31, 2022.
Presently, J Sports 4 carries live episodes of RAW and SmackDown, while J Sports On-Demand allows fans to order pay-per-view events and other monthly specials.
WWE's Japanese TV partner also announced that on-demand paid product "WWE Pack" will be discontinued in 2022. The official website of J Sports issued the following notice to their viewers:
[Important Notice] "WWE Raw" and "WWE SmackDown" will be discontinued, and J SPORTS On Demand "WWE Pack" will be discontinued. If you are a "WWE Pack" subscriber, you will need to cancel the contract. Please see the following page for details regarding this matter.
It's unknown if WWE is negotiating with another network to air their programming in Japan.
WWE and J Sports extended their 22-year partnership in 2019, signing a three-year contract that kicked in on Jan. 1, 2019. It appears J Sports and WWE will not be renewing the contract.
You can see J Sports' tweet below.
【重要なお知らせ】
「WWEロウ」「WWEスマックダウン」が放送終了、及びJ SPORTSオンデマンドの「WWEパック」がサービス終了となります。
「WWEパック」ご加入者の方は解約手続きが必要となります。
本件に関する詳細は下記ページにてご確認ください。https://t.co/7YUKBKpD2B@WWEJapan #wwe_jp— J SPORTS WWE【公式】 (@jsports_WWE) November 25, 2021