News On SmackDown’s Touring Schedule Following Move To FOX

There will be various changes to WWE when the FOX deal goes through in this fall. This is especially true when it comes to touring.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, SmackDown talent will be doing a Thursday through Sunday road schedule once it starts on FOX. The second night of the road schedule will be live TV. The four-show per week road schedule has been a WWE tradition for years.

SmackDown currently tours from Saturday through Tuesday, while RAW tours from Friday to Monday with both tours ending with their respective television tapings.

The first Friday night episode of SmackDown Live on FOX will take place on October 4th from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The next shows will be October 11th in Denver, CO, October 18th in Columbus, OH and October 25th in Kansas City, MO.

There are already reports that SmackDown could move to three hours when it moves to FOX, with the third hour airing on FS1 following the two-hour show on Fox. MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler recently raised his target price on WWE stock to $110 from $95 a share based on “the relaunch of the WWE Network, monetization from a third hour of media time for Smackdown, and added revenue from three more television networks.”

Raw’s schedule will not change, as they will continue to do Friday through Monday. SmackDown has been a part of WWE programming since 1999, starting on UPN. It has since been shown on the CW, MyNetworkTV, SyFy and most recently, the USA Network.

SmackDown Live will debut on FOX on Friday, October 4th, 2019.

Source: Wrestling Inc.