WWE Strikes $1.6 Billion USD Deal With ESPN
In a landmark agreement that reshapes the sports entertainment landscape,WWEhas finalized a multi-year deal withESPN, granting the Disney-owned company exclusive U.S. domestic streaming rights to all WWE Premium Live Events. The deal, valued at $1.6 billion USD over five years, marks a significant strategic victory for WWE and a pivotal move for ESPN's ambitious new streaming service.
The agreement, which begins in 2026, will see all of WWE's marquee events—includingWrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series—move exclusively to ESPN's platforms in the U.S. This marks a major shift from WWE's current partnership with NBCUniversal's Peacock, which is set to expire in March 2026. This move aligns WWE's distribution model more closely with that of the UFC, which has seen immense success under the ESPN banner.
For ESPN, the deal is a cornerstone of its new direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service, which is launching on August 21st at a price of $29.99 USD per month. WWE's 'immense, devoted and passionate fanbase' is a key draw, with ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro noting that the addition of WWE's biggest events will bolster their content portfolio and 'drive our streaming future.' The statement reads, 'WWE has an immense, devoted and passionate fan base that we're excited to super-serve on our new ESPN DTC platform. This agreement, which features the most significant WWE events of the year, bolsters our unprecedented content portfolio and helps drive our streaming future.' The deal not only grants ESPN the rights to the premium live events themselves but also the opportunity to stream pre- and post-show content, fully integrating WWE into its sports media ecosystem. Mark Shapiro, president and chief operating officer of TKO said, 'We are proud to reinforce the 'E' in ESPN at such an exciting juncture in its direct-to-consumer journey. WWE Premium Live Events are renowned for exactly the type of rich storytelling, incredible feats of athleticism and can't-miss, cultural tentpole experiences that have become synonymous with ESPN. Through our UFC relationship, we have experienced firsthand how transformational an ESPN presence can be, and we know this will be an exceptional partnership at a time of great innovation for both companies.'
This partnership is part of a larger, aggressive push by ESPN to secure high-profile live event rights ahead of its new streaming service. The company recently finalized a deal with the NFL, which includes an equity stake for the league in exchange for media assets, and is reportedly in talks with Major League Baseball for a new rights package. The WWE deal, therefore, positions ESPN as a formidable force in the streaming wars, leveraging a wide range of live sports and entertainment to attract a diverse audience.
While the deal is a massive financial success for WWE, it comes with a potential challenge for fans. The new ESPN streaming service will cost $29.99 USD per month, a significant increase from the $10.99 USD monthly price WWE fans currently pay for Peacock's unlimited plan. However, reports suggest that existing cable and satellite subscribers who receive ESPN as part of their package may be able to access the new WWE content at no additional cost through authentication. This development sets the stage for a new era of WWE viewing, where a single, dedicated platform becomes the exclusive home for all of the company's biggest events.
Breaking News: WWE Premium Live Events are headed to@espnplatforms in the U.S. starting in 2026pic.twitter.com/uD4KOiQYBg
— WWE (@WWE)August 6, 2025
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We appreciate the quality of their studio programming, and we're excited to add that into our arsenal. We will continue to distribute it linearly (via traditional cable or satellite) so the fan that wants the network linearly will continue be able to access it that way. But we're adding another option for the fan, which is building it into ESPN direct-to-consumer.' On the RedZone brand Advertisement (Note: ESPN would own broad rights to the RedZone brand and distribute the NFL RedZone Channel to pay TV operators for continued inclusion into their sports packages.) 'The Red Zone is of vital importance to hardcore NFL fans. We are acquiring linear rights but on the digital side, we've agreed to bundle ESPN direct-to-consumer with NFL+ Premium which includes RedZone. From our perspective, that is how our fans and customers is going to be able to access all of ESPN, plus RedZone in the NFL+ Premium app.' On NFL game inventory 'Obviously we like the fact that we're getting the additional games. We're licensing three new games and then we're going to move four games from the ESPN networks. There are currently three side-by-side games, meaning games on ABC and ESPN. Those three games, once the deal closes, we'll move over to the NFL Network. Then the game that we have on ESPN+ will move over to the NFL Network. So we'll maintain seven games within the network. As a part of that, we will have more exclusive windows, meaning three new games with exclusive windows. We're getting out of this side-by-side business and moving those three games over. So you're going from 22 clean windows to now 28 clean windows for NFL games across ESPN networks.' On how he will judge the direct-to-consumer launch on August 21 'Our number one priority at ESPN is direct-to-consumer, but it's not the direct-to-consumer opening weekend. This launch will not be a movie opening, where we evaluate ourselves based on performance for opening weekend. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We're not gonna launch with all of the features and functionality that will be available a year from now or two years from now. Our product teams are excited, but they've been very clear that there will be gradual and regular enhancements to the ESPN experience. I'm not trying to minimize the importance of the launch. I'm just emphasizing the fact that there will be regular updates to the product.' On the WWE acquisition Advertisement 'The WWE premium level events will help us expand our audience. It's a younger, more diverse audience, which is really interesting to us. These are marquee events, quality storytelling. It's a good fit for us from a churn perspective. One of the biggest challenges we have with the direct-to-consumer business and what anyone has with a direct-to-consumer business is churn and seasonality. We're going to work closely with the WWE in terms of minimizing churn and having these events throughout the calendar year.' 'This will also be an opportunity to expand the audience for ESPN and WWE. One of the levers that we can pull is with Disney+. This is family-friendly entertainment, and so we're starting to think about whether we leverage the Disney+ platform. I know there's some interest from our Disney+ colleagues. Also, we're going to be including some of these events on our linear networks, at least some of the opening windows to some of the events each year. So we might show the pre-show event and then maybe a couple matches on linear. What's important is that we have a clean break. We've started to speak with the WWE about how we can create a clean break to drive the fan from the linear experience to direct-to-consumer.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
