WWE Premium Live Events have found a new home for 2026, as the biggest shows of the year will air live on ESPN in the United States the following year.
As announced on August 6 via press release, WWE PLEs will air on ESPN as part of the broadcaster’s new streaming service that is set to launch on August 21st. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the deal is said to be over 5 years and valued at $1.6 billion in total. While no official start date is announced, major events including the Royal Rumble are listed, meaning that it is likely to be early next year.
Additionally, ESPN may stream the pre-and post-shows of the WWE events, which will be produced by the company. Viewers will pay $29.99 per month for the service, which is said to include “all seven of ESPN’s domestic linear networks in addition to ESPN on ABC and several other streaming options.”
The announcement means that all WWE content is locked into media rights deals for the next 5 years. While PLEs will air on ESPN after the current relationship with Peacock ends, SmackDown now airs on the USA Network, NXT airs on the CW and Raw airs on Netflix in the United States. Given that Netflix is the home of PLEs internationally, the announcement comes as a surprise as many fans were expecting the streaming service to obtain a global monopoly on the shows when the deal expires.
Triple H Comments On WWE And ESPN Deal
Following the original announcement, Chief Content Officer Triple H appeared on ESPN’s Get Up to hype the new deal and how excited he is about the deal moving forward:
“There’s nothing bigger, there’s no bigger opportunity for us than this right now,” Levesque said about ESPN.
“Nick [Khan] and I have been thinking about it for a long time, of it is the right home for it. It’s something that we’ve been trying to work through for a long time. [ESPN Chairman] Jimmy Pitaro making it happen, it’s thrilling for us. Can’t be more excited.”
Featured image: WWE
