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WWE Strikes Massive Deal With ESPN For PLE Rights In The US

By John Canton • Published Aug 06, 2025 14:17 EDT
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WWE and ESPN have announced a huge deal that will begin in 2026.

Wrestling fans in the United States will be using ESPN’s streaming service starting in early 2026 to access WWE Premium Live Events. The monumental five-year streaming partnership is valued at $1.6 billion over five years, which is $325 million annually.

ESPN’s new streaming service, priced at $29.99/month, offers fans access to other ESPN programming, in addition to WWE PLEs.

A press release was issued by ESPN featuring comments from top executives at the worldwide leader of sports and TKO Group leaders who run WWE.

BRISTOL, Conn. and STAMFORD, Conn. (August 6, 2025)—ESPN, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), today announced a landmark rights agreement as ESPN platforms, including the new ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service, will become the exclusive U.S. domestic home of all WWE Premium Live Events (PLEs), including the two-night cultural phenomenon WrestleMania, starting in 2026. This deal makes ESPN home to the highest-profile WWE events of the year.

The ESPN DTC service will stream all WWE PLEs annually, in their entirety, with select simulcasting on ESPN linear platforms. Marquee PLEs include WrestleMania and SummerSlam –both two-night events – and Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, Money in the Bank, among others. WWE will continue to produce all PLEs.

Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN: “WWE has an immense, devoted and passionate fanbase 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.”

Mark Shapiro, President and Chief Operating Officer, TKO: “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.”

Nick Khan, President, WWE: “WWE’s agreement with ESPN is a pivotal moment for our millions of fans across the United States: the leader in sports entertainment partnering with the biggest brand in sports media. Bringing WWE’s flagship events to ESPN’s platform is tremendously exciting. We know the sky is the limit.”

ESPN platforms, including its DTC service, will have the opportunity to stream WWE’s pre-and post-event shows tied to all Premium Live Events.

It’s important to remember that this deal only affects fans in the US, not others around the world. Most WWE fans will be able to continue watching PLEs on Netflix, as the agreement has been in place since January of this year.

Triple H Reacts To WWE’s Historic Deal With ESPN

Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who is WWE’s Chief Content Officer, commented on X/Twitter about the deal.

Bringing @espn and @WWE together is monumental. Two leaders in sports and entertainment delivering for our fans in the U.S.

This partnership presents a massive opportunity for the brand, our Superstars, and the industry as a whole. Excited for what’s to come…Get Ready for 2026!!

There is still a lot of uncertainty and questions by some fans, but there should be more details released in the days and weeks ahead.