WWE could land a new streaming deal with ESPN if things go well in negotiations.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the talks would be in regards to WWE content airing on the ESPN+ service. WWE saw what the UFC did with ESPN and now is looking to get a similar deal, per the report.
This potential deal if reached would see WWE sell their rights to air pay-per-views on ESPN+ in order to get more money than what they earn through the WWE Network.
This potential deal to air PPV events on ESPN+ could also potentially bring more mainstream exposure to WWE’s big events and their biggest Superstars. The UFC has been heavily covered on ESPN networks since inking their deal.
WWE Partnership With ESPN
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on how far the talks with ESPN are. The report did note that it looks like the deal has not been agreed on as of this week.
Earlier this month, there were rumors that WWE was possibly talking to Amazon about selling content rights to them but have since been dismissed. ESPN isn’t the only player that WWE has been talking with as they had talks with other potential partners.
These partners include DAZN and NBC’s Peacock service. The belief is that the Peacock service will launch later this year and some think this would be the best bet for WWE.
TV industry sources recently told Meltzer that Peacock would look at WWE to be its key initial programming to draw subscribers from the launch moving forward. Thus, it would be very similar to how ESPN+ did with UFC.
Since the subscription numbers for the WWE Network continue to decrease, WWE would be able to get significantly guaranteed money for their big-money events, instead of relying on their own service for revenue.
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