Why the New ESPN, WWE Deal Is a Disservice to Fans
Today, ESPN and the WWE announced that they have reached an agreement that will see WWE’s marquee Premium Live Events, such as WrestleMania, streaming live on ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service starting in 2026. The five-year, $1.6 billion deal will include other events such as SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Money in the Bank, and the Royal Rumble. All of these events are expected to be moved to two-night events following the success of the first-ever, two-night SummerSlam event. The World Wide Leader in Sports Entertainment will also produce events for ESPN platforms, which will now serve as the domestic home for WWE PLEs in the United States. The WWE and ESPN sound like a perfect marriage, but there is no such thing as a perfect marriage.
ESPN will launch its new streaming service on August 21st, and users will have to pay a staggering $29.99 a month to access the new app. It will keep the linear name of the company, ESPN. Users will get access to all seven of the Worldwide Leader in Sports’ seven domestic channels in addition to ESPN on ABC. Which begs the question, why should fans have to pay an additional thirty dollars to watch the marquee WWE events, and basic channels you can watch for free? As a fan of the WWE, I know that the company wants to grow and reach the highest mountain that they possibly can, but they are alienating their fan base in the process. Some fans cannot afford to pay the extra thirty dollars a month just to watch a PLE, no matter how big the event is going to be. Fans are already paying anywhere from $17.99 per month to $24.99 per month to watch Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Now, the WWE is asking fans to pay an additional thirty dollars a month to ESPN to watch the most popular PLEs. The streaming home for the WWE PLEs was Peacock, and the standard subscription cost was $10.99 per month, which is a reasonable price. There were also no glitches or problems with watching the event on Peacock. Many UFC fans have voiced these concerns about watching UFC events on ESPN+. This has many fans questioning whether the same problems occur when watching the WWE on this new app.
This is the testament to the new era of television that the WWE is trying to navigate, and that is streaming. Today, more people choose streaming over linear TV, and the only thing keeping linear television alive is live sports. Now, it looks like the Worldwide Leader in Sports is setting itself up for its streaming future, and it wants the most exciting events that it can broadcast under their umbrella to build the portfolio for their new service. However, it is coming at a cost for the WWE fans who tune in every week, who invest in their favorite characters and storylines that they could potentially miss out on just because they cannot afford to see it. The announcement today was met with much excitement, but also met with the same level of disappointment. If you have been keeping up with the WWE, then you know that John Cena is retiring and leaving the company at the end of the year. Now, it looks like he will be taking some fans with him.
