Tag: WWE on ESPN

WWE WrestleMania 42 on ESPN simulcast ratings released

Posted on by Josh Nason

The first-ever WWE WrestleMania on ESPN saw some impressive numbers for the hourlong portions that aired on ESPN’s linear networks in addition to the ESPN Unlimited streaming service.

First reported by Front Office Sports (a WWE content partner), Saturday’s one hour WrestleMania 42 simulcast brought in 1.62 million viewers on ESPN2. The hour featured Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu in an unsanctioned match as well as LA Knight & The Usos vs. Logan Paul, Austin Theory & IShowSpeed in a trios bout.

Sunday’s hour brought in 1.82 million viewers on ESPN’s main channel with Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi (followed by Lesnar’s possible retirement seen above) and the ladder match for the men’s Intercontinental title.

FOS also reported that the one hour countdown shows did 676,000 viewers for ESPN2 on Saturday followed by 750,000 for ESPN on Sunday.

National competition included both the NBA and NHL playoffs on both nights.

No viewership data has been revealed for the full ESPN Unlimited broadcasts, but in WWE’s media releasing touting the weekend’s overall success, they stated that “WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the year on ESPN2, while WrestleMania Sunday was the most-viewed telecast of the entire weekend on ESPN.”

It was the first WrestleMania as part of ESPN and WWE’s five year exclusive domestic deal for PLEs that began last September. The networks did a slew of coverage leading into the event on key properties like SportsCenter and Get Up.

TKO exec says ESPN Unlimited price point is ‘somewhat prohibitive’ for WWE fans

Posted on by Josh Nason

TKO head Mark Shapiro is very excited about the day when ESPN Unlimited is fully authenticated for subscribers of all major cable & streaming TV providers, giving them free access to WWE premium live events.

Shapiro spoke Monday at the annual Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference where he was asked about the ESPN/WWE relationship following their PLE shift last September and how it might impact both reach and popularity.

He said “it definitely impacts us” and noted they were asked all the same questions about accessibility when WWE moved to Peacock years ago.

“(Moving to Peacock) was a total success. We play the long game with WWE and we’re doing the same with ESPN,” he said.

He then put over the ESPN Unlimited platform, calling it a “phenomenal package if you’re a sports fan” and added that “things will immediately get better” for WWE when Comcast, YouTube and Dish all allow their subscribers to authenticate and get the service for free. (Comcast Xfinity actually launched that capability last weekend while it might be until the fall for YouTube.)

“That is (the $29.99 monthly cost without authenticating), I believe, is somewhat prohibitive, especially in today’s economy and the struggles that certainly middle income and low income earners are having with affordability. They have to get those deals done. Until they do, that will affect our audience,” he said, adding they are excited about everything getting done.

Shapiro said that for this past weekend’s Elimination Chamber, they saw “a significant increase in audience” from last September’s Wrestlepalooza and “are already making strides.” He admitted they aren’t where they were a year ago with Netflix or Peacock, but he was “super encouraged” by the numbers WWE president Nick Khan was sending him every hour this past weekend.

The future of WWE NXT PLEs on Peacock did not come up.

What did come up with the impending possibility of Paramount Skydance acquiring WBD which Shapiro said is “only good for us.” He specifically mentioned TNT and HBO being synonymous with sports, something he brought up before, suggesting that TNT might make a good home for UFC events if a deal was to go through.

WWE PLEs on ESPN now available for Xfinity customers

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE fans with Xfinity/Comcast packages in the United States are now able to access ESPN Unlimited and WWE PLEs for no additional cost.

CNBC’s Alex Sherman broke the news Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Elimination Chamber, writing that “Xfinity will enable ESPN Unlimited plan authentication to eligible Xfinity TV customers, unlocking access to exclusive streaming content on the ESPN App, including WWE Elimination Chamber this weekend.”

“Eligible” means those with a current cable/streaming package through Xfinity that also has ESPN, not those who have just an internet plan.

Access for large providers has been slow since WWE moved up their ESPN deal to this past September instead of this April. YouTube TV remains as one of key players to not be fully integrated, something unlikely to happen until this fall.

To date, four WWE PLEs have been exclusive for domestic viewers: Wrestlepalooza, Crown Jewel: Perth, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble. The majority of the rest of the world can watch them on Netflix.

ESPN to air condensed version of WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Josh Nason

ESPN is attempting to bring this year’s WWE Royal Rumble to more of their viewers, airing a condensed version of the annual event this weekend.

First reported by Wrestlevotes on Fightful Select, a three-hour episode is listed for this Sunday, February 22 at 8 pm Eastern on ESPN’s main channel. As of now, there is no match listing.

From Wrestlevotes: “The decision is part of a broader effort to promote upcoming WWE PLEs and allows ESPN to evaluate viewership data for an over air presentation of the product.”

WWE and ESPN launched a five-year domestic deal last September for all WWE premium live events to air live on their new ESPN Unlimited subscriber streaming service.

The first-ever Rumble event from Saudi Arabia featured Roman Reigns winning the men’s Rumble match, Liv Morgan winning the women’s Rumble match, Gunther retiring AJ Styles, surprise returns and debuts from Royce Keys, Brie Bella, El Gable Americano and several NXT and AAA wrestlers.

WWE accused of deceptive marketing with ESPN launch in new class action lawsuit

Posted on by Josh Nason

The rollout of WWE premium live events on ESPN’s straight-to-consumer streaming platform this past September was not without its critics — a rollout that has now brought about a class action lawsuit.

First reported by Post Wrestling and Brandon Thurston on Friday, the lawsuit filed Thursday in Connecticut’s U.S. District Court accuses WWE of being deceptive in their marketing of the new union when claiming all ESPN subscribers would have access to WWE PLEs without an additional fee.

Only WWE is named in the lawsuit and not ESPN. The reason, Thurston surmised, was that “By only suing WWE, the plaintiffs are trying to avoid the arbitration and class action waiver provisions that they note are in Disney’s subscriber agreement.”

ESPN (Disney) has previously stated they expect to eventually sign deals with all cable/streaming adjacent providers that carry ESPN which would give subscribers access to their new streaming platform at no additional cost. TKO head Mark Shapiro has also stated that is their expectation as well.

As of this writing, that is not the case with several major providers, meaning those subscribers must pay $30/month for access to the ESPN streaming platform and the WWE PLEs.

The plaintiffs are looking to represent any U.S.-based customers who a) were existing ESPN subscribers between August 6 prior to September 20’s Wrestlepalooza and b) paid for ESPN’s new service in that timeframe. Those who are subscribers of DirecTV, Fubo TV, Hulu + Live TV, Spectrum and Verizon FIOS are ineligible for the lawsuit due to their ability to both authenticate and get access in that timeframe.

The lawsuit, brought about by two consumers, claims more than $5 million are at stake with eligible consumers getting a cut if they win the case. In the suit, it was estimated that “WWE content drove roughly 95,000 to 125,000 signups during the proposed class period.”

The next step is for WWE to respond legally.

JNPO: August 2025 wrestling year in review | WWE’s big year continues as Will Ospreay’s ends

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

On a brand-new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, Josh continues with his 12-part pro wrestling year in review series with a stop in August 2025 and returning guest Andrew Thompson of Fightful.

Josh and Andrew talk about another big month in WWE which saw the first-ever two-night SummerSlam which saw the return of Brock Lesnar after two years and the subsequent PR sh*tshow. Seth Rollins also made his *surprise* return after his “injury” to both cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and win the WWE World Heavyweight title.

On the AEW side of the street, Will Ospreay wrestled his final match prior to undergoing neck surgery, competing in an unsanctioned multi-man steel cage match to close Forbidden Door in London, England.

Oh, and there was WWE announcing their PLEs were heading to ESPN in April 2026…only to bump that timeframe up to September and introduce Wrestlepalooza that would go head-to-head with AEW All Out.

Oh, and John Cena turned babyface about 48 hours before losing the WWE title back to Cody Rhodes.

Between all that, the rest of the AEW and WWE news, Ring of Honor, NJPW, Mexico and the indies, we go through roughly 400 headlines and news items.

Click here to listen on our site or listen on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts (just search Wrestling Observer).

ESPN head says they previously tried to get WWE Raw, SmackDown & archive rights

Posted on by Josh Nason

The desire to have live WWE programming on ESPN has been a goal for quite some time, according to ESPN president of content Burke Magnus.

The longtime executive talked to sports media reporter Richard Deitsch about a variety of topics regarding the ESPN brand when the topic of the WWE premium live rights came up.

Noting that ESPN aired historical WrestleManias during the pandemic, Magnus said, “I took a couple of runs at the Raw and SmackDown packages and the WWE Network previously. I’ve had a great appreciation for this content for a long time.”

He didn’t give any details as to why that didn’t happen or how serious they were, nor the timeframes in which he tried to acquire them.

He continued that while he’s not too familiar with today’s storylines, “I have a full appreciation for what they’ve built over there in terms of a great form of entertainment and clearly, the results speak for themselves in terms of how many fans they pack in arenas and stadiums. It’s remarkable.”

Magnus was also asked about how WWE will be covered when news breaks storyline-wise which he said was “a really active conversation to date.” He said everything has been presented in relation to the launch of the relationship, and that he expects there will be coverage but “in the context of what WWE is,” noting that it’s entertainment.

Magnus also talked about wanting to retain the services of occasional WWE announcer Pat McAfee when his contract for College GameDay wraps up in May 2028. McAfee was part of the desk during last Saturday’s Wrestlepalooza — the first PLE as part of WWE’s five-year deal with ESPN. There has been heavy speculation they will be a major player for WWE archive content when Peacock’s domestic rights expire at year’s end.

ESPN WWE Wrestlepalooza media call: Brock Lesnar, creative control, streaming questions

Posted on by Josh Nason

ESPN will have no creative control or jurisdiction over WWE talent as part of their five-year deal that kicks off this Saturday with Wrestlepalooza.

ESPN+ senior vice president JT Lasker and vice president of programming & acquisitions Matt Kenny were asked that question during a Wednesday media call with Kenny confirming they don’t have or want any say on creative.

He said their relationship in that regard is not dissimilar to relationships they have with other rights holders, acknowledging that the stick/glove/ball sports are different than combat sports.

“They retain creative control which, by the way, we are fine with. I don’t need to opine on what a script should be to WWE,” he said. “I think we’re excited about what they do, how they do it and we’re excited for Saturday.”

The question was tied into the inclusion of Brock Lesnar on the show given he was named in the still-ongoing lawsuit between Janel Grant, Vince McMahon and WWE.

Here’s some other highlights from the call that included a declaration that WWE & wrestling coverage would not be affected, and that there was no ulterior motive in running Wrestlepalooza on the same day as AEW All Out:

  • Wrestlepalooza will be part of the ESPN’s multi-view option, allowing fans to watch action alongside other ESPN live sports programming.
  • They are continuing to work out deals with various cable/streaming providers that ESPN airs on in order to give those subscribers access to ESPN Unlimited. It was said that “by the turn of the calendar year,” the “vast majority” of their existing ESPN subscriber base will have access to the service with the ultimate goal of turning “vast majority” into “all.”
  • As of now, deals with providers like Xfinity/Comcast and YouTube haven’t been completed while subscribers of DirectTV, Fubo, Spectrum, Hulu Live and Verizon FIOS do.
  • Asked about the future of WWE archive content, it was noted their deal is for PLEs which will be available on demand. They directed questions about the broader library to WWE.
  • They deferred questions about a Baseball Tonight or NFL Live-esque WWE coverage show, but said it’s a big deal for SportsCenter to be on site at Wrestlepalooza considering it’s a college football Saturday.
  • Just like with UFC, WWE will continue to handle all production.
  • Asked if any new PLEs will be added on the calendar and specifically in December that is absent of one, Kenny didn’t have any real answer as the relationship is still very, very news, saying, “anything on that will bear itself out.”
  • Asked about what metrics they are using to determine whether this relationship is a success, Lasker couldn’t share target numbers, but said they want to grow ESPN’s overall audience and attract new subscribers who might not subscribe in another way. They also want to create new value for existing subscribers.
  • Kenny said there is a “minimum threshold” of times when WWE PLEs will simulcast on ESPN’s linear networks. That will be determined in a collaboration between them and WWE that begins with the ESPN content strategy team to identify opportunities that exist within the massive amount of commitments with ESPN’s existing portfolio of rights. Kenny said it’s still very early in all of this, but acknowledged the simulcasts could end up being more beneficial which would result in a change in how they look at doing them.
  • Kenny was asked about the reaction internally to the WWE deal given what it is. He said he lived the same question when UFC was brought on and it’s a challenge to create advocacy within the company. He used the example of The Usos coming to their headquarters in Bristol Tuesday which was a short notice thing, announced internally with a sign on the door for employees coming in. Despite that, the demand was enormous with north of 250 employees wanting to get pictures and a line that had to be cut off, showing there is more of an interest and acknowledgment than some realize.

ESPN will have ‘church and state’ relationship with news coverage of WWE & other wrestling

Posted on by Josh Nason

For those concerned on how ESPN will cover WWE and/or pro wrestling in the future, two executives want to put those concerns to rest.

During a media call Wednesday to promote Saturday’s launch on the ESPN networks with Wrestlepalooza and specifically their new streaming platform, ESPN+ senior vice president JT Lasker and vice president of programming & acquisitions Matt Kenny were asked if those who report on wrestling will have “full independence” in how they do so.

Lasker answered, “I think the answer to that is an emphatic yes.” Kenny then followed up with “an unequivocal yes. That’s a separation of church and state. We have some PR folks on the call that can underscore that, but yes.”

On their website, WWE has a home right next to UFC on the main navigation that leads to a well-populated landing page. Under ‘More Sports,’ there is a ‘Professional Wrestling‘ section which has nearly all WWE content on there as well.

There is an AEW section within the wrestling area that leads to a very lightly populated page with an events schedule and listing of AEW World Champions. The last feature was from over 200 days ago.

ESPN addresses WWE Wrestlepalooza running against AEW All Out

Posted on by Josh Nason

With regard to WWE Wrestlepalooza running this Saturday against AEW All Out, wrestling competition had nothing to do with it, according to ESPN executives.

During a media call Wednesday to promote Saturday’s launch on the ESPN networks and specifically their new streaming platform, ESPN VP of programming and acquisitions Matt Kenny was asked about WWE choosing to run against a competitor and if that was a strategy for the future.

Kenny said they will work collaboratively with WWE on the schedule and in this case, many of WWE’s events had already been scheduled for the year. He said traditionally, ESPN would work with a partner as part of a lengthy process in scheduling dates (using UFC as an example), working together on a calendar.

ESPN’s PLE deal with WWE wasn’t supposed to start until April 2026 and it wasn’t until WWE negotiated with NBCU/Peacock (revealed in August) to get out early that ESPN was able to move the timetable up.

Kenny said ESPN wanted a marquee WWE event in September to help with the launch of the new streaming platform.

He mentioned during the call that they had no dialogue with Peacock and “we were excited when presented the option to start that relationship early.”

“Really, it had less to do with any particular wrestling competition. In fact, we take a holistic view. We know there is competition everywhere. Certainly in the fall on Saturdays…there’s no shortage of college football competition throughout the day. We welcome competition and do take a ‘game on’ approach. We are focused in this particular case to super-serve WWE and wrestling fans on our platforms,” he said.

August 25, 2025 Observer Newsletter: Major changes to WWE’s ESPN & Peacock deals, AEW Forbidden Door preview

Posted on by F4W Staff

The new Wrestling Observer Newsletter has arrived at the end of another busy week for both WWE and AEW.

Dave Meltzer looks at the latest flurry of activity with WWE’s media rights as their PLE deal with ESPN will now begin in September with their Peacock contract undergoing some major changes as a result.

Dave also previews this weekend’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door from London’s O2 Arena.

He hits on all that, plus the rest of the news from the wrestling week in WWE, AEW, NJPW, CMLL, AAA and more.

Click here to read the latest Wrestling Observer

Key details emerge on WWE/Peacock/ESPN arrangement, new main roster show

Posted on by Josh Nason

While it was a bit of a surprise to see WWE’s premium live event deal with Peacock end seven months before it was contractually supposed to, new details out Wednesday illuminate some of the thinking behind the new arrangement: more WWE content.

Announced Thursday, ESPN will take over as the domestic home for PLEs starting with September’s freshly-announced Wrestlepalooza instead of with this April’s WrestleMania 42 as had been the contractual plan.

The thinking, as our Bryan Alvarez had previously reported, was that WWE believed they had honored their commitment of PLEs to the NBCU-owned streaming service with the additional night of WrestleMania, the additional night of SummerSlam, and then this year’s Evolution.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, ESPN did not buy out the seven months. Rather, a deal was brokered first between WWE and Peacock and then brought to ESPN. ESPN is launching their new streaming service on Thursday with this news being a big part of their launch day and WWE a key part of the early success of the service.

The outlet reported that WWE personnel is currently in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Wrestlepalooza will take place to mark the occasion Thursday.

So what does Peacock get out of this? The outlet reported that the deal between they and WWE will “include new main-roster WWE programming to stream on the NBCUniversal digital platform; details of that programming are expected to be announced soon.”

WWE’s final PLE on Peacock will be next weekend’s Clash in Paris. October’s Crown Jewel and November’s Survivor Series will air on ESPN.

At this point, NXT PLEs will continue to air on Peacock through March 2026. With WWE moving their PLEs to ESPN, the NXT special events do not have an announced home after that date. The future of the WWE archives currently on Peacock is also unknown after March 2026.

WOL: The week WWE proved they are cancel-proof

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the first time in years, the Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live is TWO HOURS long (well, for Sports Byline, anyway).

Josh Nason guest hosts this week with a lot to talk about including:

  • The week that WWE proved they are cancel-proof with the return of Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman explaining there are no apologies for him returning, and the insulating culture of many WWE fans in 2025 that made it possible
  • The winners & losers of the WWE & ESPN PLE deal
  • An early look at AEW Forbidden Door, why this year’s lineup doesn’t feel special thus far, and why the gimmick has lost its luster
  • Why the John Cena heel turn was going to be a disaster from the start and why we should have known

All that and lots more ahead. Listen below for free or on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts (search for Wrestling Observer):

Click here to listen

August 11, 2025 Observer Newsletter: WWE PLEs heading to ESPN, Brock Lesnar’s controversial return at SummerSlam

Posted on by F4W Staff

Image: WWE/Getty

It was another insane week in pro wrestling news and this week’s brand-new Wrestling Observer Newsletter has it all.

Dave Meltzer leads off with a look at the newly-announced media rights deal between WWE and ESPN that will see their full premium live event slate head to ESPN’s new streaming service in April 2026.

He then goes over all the results and news from last weekend’s WWE SummerSlam that was dominated by the controversial return of Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins revealing his knee injury was a work, and Cody Rhodes ending John Cena’s final WWE World title run.

Get all that plus all the rest of the news from AEW, CMLL, TNA and more.

Click here to read because reading is your friend.

Peacock’s WWE PLE bid revealed, separate WrestleMania deal was explored

Posted on by Josh Nason

In the wake of Wednesday’s announcement that WWE’s domestic premium live event package is heading to ESPN in April 2026, there is now more information on the efforts made for NBCU/Peacock to retain it.

On Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Live (seen below), our Bryan Alvarez reported that the Peacock bid was “in the neighborhood of $275 million per year.”

It’s unknown if that offer was for five years and the same terms (WWE video library and commitments for both five total documentaries and 250 hours of original programming) Peacock had before that TKO president Mark Shapiro noted ESPN’s package does not include.

As announced, the ESPN deal is for five years at $325 million per year, an increase of $50 million per year without the aforementioned added commitments that can be sold elsewhere which includes NXT PLEs.

Alvarez also noted that WWE was “shopping around WrestleMania as a separate deal” from the PLE package at one point, perhaps with an eye of selling those rights to one partner while the rest of the package went elsewhere.

WWE’s deal with Peacock ends in March 2026 with NBCU’s contract for SmackDown and Saturday Night’s Main Event still current.