Some interesting news came out in the early hours of Wednesday, August 6. ESPN, WWE, and TKO announced that ESPN is acquiring the rights to WWE Premium Live Events starting in 2026 with WrestleMania. This is big news on several fronts, as it further shakes the foundation of professional wrestling and sports entertainment content in several ways. As WWE prepares to flaunt this news and present it as a major win for everyone involved, fans should surely be concerned about this development and what it means for their consumption of 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,” said Nick Khan, President of WWE. “Bringing WWE’s flagship events to ESPN’s platform is tremendously exciting. We know the sky is the limit.”
This is big news. News that will undoubtedly be celebrated across the promotion and those media outlets that are quick to parrot talking points without asking deeper questions. However, there are questions that fans should ask because there’s precedent when looking at how these types of deals have impacted promotions and leagues in the past.
ESPN is set to launch a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform on August 21 for $29.99. This platform will house the WWE content when the deal begins in 2026. At the time, the video library has not been addressed in any announcement, so there’s still a question about where fans will need to go to watch historic content. This streaming platform will carry WWE’s live PLEs, while select PLEs will also be available on ESPN’s linear platforms – what fans will know as traditional television channels.
The first question fans should ask is if these PLEs will be available as part of that $29.99 price tag or is there an additional cost to view them. UFC events are featured on ESPN today. The “basic” shows of UFC Fight Nights and other content like Dana White’s Contender Series stream on the ESPN+ platform and ESPN channels at no additional cost to fans. But when they want to view the PPVs that feature the major title fights and top names, fans are asked to pay an additional cost. That cost has increased in recent years, with the current price tag sitting at $79.99 for a typical UFC PPV.
Does this mean WWE fans will have to pay $29.99 and an additional cost to see PLEs? Is that a change that could come? Those are serious questions that fans should ask, as streaming platforms continue to rise in costs across the industry.
This is also an additional cost with the current Netflix subscription to watch WWE Monday Night Raw. Plus, shows like NXT and SmackDown still come with additional costs for those who need additional platforms to watch those offerings. All of these are costs that come as pockets are stretched across surging prices for nearly everything, both necessities and entertainment.
WWE fans should not take the news of its move to ESPN for PLEs as all sunshine and rainbows. There are questions that need to be answered, especially when it comes to how this move will impact their pockets.