WWE Premium Live Events (PLE), including Wrestlemania, the Royal Rumble and Summerslam, will have a new home beginning in 2026: ESPN.
ESPN has reached a five-year deal to broadcast WWE PLEs on its platform starting next year, the companies announced Wednesday.
While the exact financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in the announcement, the Wall Street Journal reported shortly after that the agreement totals $1.6 billion, or $325 million a year.
ESPN is grabbing WWE’s PLE programming before the launch of their new “direct-to-consumer” streaming service, which debuts later this month with a monthly price tag of $29.99.
The new platform, simply titled “ESPN,” offers customers access to all of their programming, no matter if it’s set to air on traditional TV, or made for streaming. This means viewers can watch channels like ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNews, but will also have access to programming from streaming services like ESPN+, SECN+, and more.
The new agreement moves WWE off NBC’s Peacock streaming service, which has played host to the promotion’s PLE programming since 2021. The previous agreement was definitely much less than what the incoming deal will give WWE, with reports ranging from the past agreement being valued at more than $1 billion to $900 million.
A press release from ESPN noted that the new deal also offers them the opportunity to stream pre- and post-show programming for WWE PLEs.
WWE continues to have a diverse group of partners as part of its media rights agreements. Along with Disney/ESPN signed up for a five-year deal, WWE broadcasts Raw on Netflix, SmackDown on the NBCUniversal-owned USA Network, and NXT on The CW Network.
