ESPN and WWE are about to get each other in tighter holds.
Under a new five-year deal, ESPN’s soon-to-launch streaming outlet will, starting in 2026, become the exclusive U.S. home of all of the WWE’s top live events, including “WrestleMania,” “SummerSlam,” “Royal Rumble” and “Survivor Series.” WWE will continue to produce all the events, which have in recent years been shown via NBCUniversal’s Peacock. ESPN will also have the option to stream pre- and post- shows tied to the events — 10 in all. The events may also be simulcast on certain linear ESPN venues.
WWE events are “an extremely popular form of entertainment, and have stood the test of time,” says Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, in a recent interview. ESPN always wants to expand its audience, he says, “and WWE is going to help us get younger. It’s going to help us get more diverse. It’s going to help us bring in more females.” Pitaro says he expects both Disney and ESPN to create other kinds of programming tied to WWE, which could include alliances with NBA stars; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who is a partner with ESPN in the UFL; or Pat McAfee, the afternoon show host who has ties to WWE.
The new ESPN streamer is slated to debut in the weeks ahead of the next NFL season. ESPN relied on a similar sports concept, UFC, to help win new consumers to its ESPN+ broadband outlet. Now it will tap WWE, which, like UFC, is part of TKO Sports.
UFC’s alliance with ESPN has resulted in the mixed-martial arts league “finding a new and expanded audience,” says Mark Shapiro, president and chief operating officer of TKO. Getting on board with the new ESPN service at an early stage “is really an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up.” WWE and ESPN have also tested alliances in the past. During the coronavirus pandemic, when live events were scuttled due to concerns about contagion, WWE granted ESPN the rights to show classic “WrestleMania” telecasts to help fill its programming schedule.
The longer-term relationships helped spur this new WWE pact, says Nick Khan, WWE’s president. “The conversations were quick. They were robust in spirit,” he says. “We think our entire audience will travel and grow substantially.”
The new rights pact will broaden WWE’s portfolio. The company will stay in business with NBCU and its Versant spin off, which will show “Saturday Night’s Main Event” and “Friday Night SmackDown,” respectively. Netflix will be able to stream “Monday Night Raw” globally and “SmackDown” and the premium live events outside the U.S.
The chance to coordinate WWE’s signature events across Netflix and ESPN was attractive, says Shapiro. “These are two of the most predominant brands in all of sports and entertainment, two supernovas, if you will,” he says.
The executives declined to discuss financial terms of the new deal.
And the alliance could serve to bolster ESPN as it faces the end of its current rights deal with UFC. That pact ends in 2025. “We take a ton of pride in how we’ve helped to grow the UFC, and we’re always proud to partner with TKO in some capacity. And so I anticipate ongoing discussions with Mark and team, about meaningful ways that we can work together,” says Pitaro. Whether those business relationships are tied to events, highlights or other content remains to be seen, but Shapiro says a partnership between UFC and ESPN “is a priority for us” with “a track record that has just been too strong.”
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