More specifics have emerged in recent hours regarding WWE’s deal to broadcast Premium Live Events (PLEs) on ESPN beginning in 2026.
The new agreement, which will run for five years in total and is reportedly worth $1.6 billion, gives ESPN the opportunity to air WWE’s top events of the year, including Wrestlemania and Summerslam.
More information about the deal has come out this afternoon as WWE names have continued to make the rounds in the press. WWE President Nick Khan joined John Ourand of Puck on The Varsity, where he clarified that the deal specifically gives ESPN 10 shows, including two-night presentations of Wrestlemania and Summerslam.
“These things could always grow, but it’s going to start as 10 events, but 12 nights,” Khan said.
WWE has hosted a similar number of PLEs in recent years. When excluding TV specials (Saturday Night’s Main Event) or web specials (Worlds Collide), WWE has announced or held at 11 PLEs this year. 12 PLEs took place in 2024.
Wrestlemania expanded to two nights in 2020, and Summerslam hosted its first-ever two-night presentation just last weekend in New Jersey. Going forward, these two will both remain as a doubleheader, per Khan.
It has also been clarified by a recent Wrestlenomics report that the agreement won’t give ESPN the full WWE library, something NBC had previously obtained when they entered into a deal to stream PLEs from the company in 2021. While the PLEs that stream on ESPN channels will have replays available afterward, the plan reportedly won’t include content from WWE’s library from before the deal.
While WWE will no longer broadcast PLEs on Peacock by next year, Khan continued to express high praise about their partnership with the NBC streaming service.
“I do want to say how amazing of a partner Peacock has been and continues to be … We bet on Peacock early, they bet on WWE early,” Khan told The Varsity. “We think the bet paid off for both sides, and here we are now today with Disney.”
TKO Group Holdings, the parent company for WWE, is also currently in negotiations for UFC’s next media rights deal, which is set for 2026. When asked if he had an update on that front, Khan bluntly said: “No.” However, he explained that everyone “who is across it is positive about it.”
