Heavyweight professional wrestling promotion WWE has relocated its top-line ‘premium live events’ (PLEs) from the NBCU-owned Peacock streaming service to Disney-owned ESPN almost five months early.
ESPN’s broadcast deal with WWE, struck earlier in August, sees the sports giant take over the coverage of WWE’s top-line events.
The deal is reportedly worth $1.6 billion and will run for five years, with an additional few months thanks to the early end of the Peacock deal, which came without ESPN having to buy out Peacock’s rights.
Indeed, WWE reportedly argued with Peacock that due to the nature of its Wrestlemania and Summerslam events being two-night shows, it had already fulfilled its contracted PLE obligation ahead of schedule.
The commitment will begin on September 20 with the first edition of Wrestlepalooza, which will be hosted in Indianapolis, where WWE has a strong relationship, at the 18,000-capacity Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Events set to be covered by the tie-up include Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank.
The final PLE on Peacock will be August 31’s Clash in Paris, but WWE and NBCU have also struck a separate agreement ensuring WWE content remains on Peacock beyond the expiry of the PLE deal.
Through the new partnership, the streaming service will retain access to WWE’s extensive video library through the remainder of 2025, with WWE NXT (its developmental brand) PLEs continuing on the service through 2026.
Furthermore, Peacock will exclusively air WWE’s ‘Saturday Night Main Event’ prime-time showcase as many as four times per year, including twice in the remainder of 2025.
In terms of weekly television, WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown show will continue on the USA Network linear channel and will be shown delayed on Peacock.
In terms of WWE's other broadcast coverage, its flagship ‘Monday Night Raw’ show is covered globally by content and entertainment giant Netflix, through a deal that came into effect in January.
ESPN, for its part, has launched its long-awaited DTC platform today (August 21).
The new platform, simply called ESPN, brings together the full bundle of Disney-owned ESPN networks and content.
ESPN DTC offers two price plans to fans - one unlimited plan for $29.99 per month, which grants fans access to all ESPN linear channels, as well as ESPN via ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX. In total, ESPN has said this option will bring 47,000 live events to fans each year.
This unlimited plan can also be bundled with the Hulu and Disney+ streaming services for $29.99 (for the first 12 months).
The new DTC service is being launched to coincide with the start of the NFL and college football (American football) seasons, as well as the US Open grand slam tennis tournament.
ESPN has also said that its new-look mobile app "will introduce a more personalized, dynamic viewing experience for fans," with new features such as multiview options, integrated game stats, betting information, and fantasy sports.
The new ESPN DTC was first announced formally earlier this year, with company chair Jimmy Pitaro saying at that time: "Our straightforward approach to name and pricing will help fans cut through the clutter, and provide them compelling options to access all our content within the enhanced ESPN App.”
