WWE On ESPN+ In 2026

[DreamBroken]

I will miss The Peacock.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/06/espn-wwe-five-year-deal-live-events.html

ESPN inks five year deal for WWE's premium live events including WrestleMania & Royal Rumble. New platform listed at $29.99 a month.

• ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service will include all of WWE’s live premium events beginning in 2026; ESPN will also simulcast select events on its linear networks.
• ESPN is paying TKO’s WWE an average of $325 million per year for five years, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The WWE’s premium events package has been on NBCUniversal’s Peacock. WWE SmackDown will remain on Peacock and USA Network.

[Gorman]

I wonder what's going to happen to the archived shows on Peacock. Will ESPN keep them in a safe place? 

[Casey]

23 minutes ago, Gorman said:

I wonder what's going to happen to the archived shows on Peacock. Will ESPN keep them in a safe place? 

I’m sure they’ll be kept in a safe place, just like Netflix is keeping all those Raw episodes in a safe place 

[Niners Fan in CT]

So basically if you just want to watch WWE PLE's you will now be paying $30/month instead of $15/month.  ESPN also fucking sucks, their quality is ass

[Casey]

I hate to say it but if you don’t go the VPN route for AEW - an annual subscription to this ESPN thing is almost $100 cheaper than ordering every AEW show at full price on Amazon or wherever.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

I will miss The Peacock.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/06/espn-wwe-five-year-deal-live-events.html

ESPN inks five year deal for WWE's premium live events including WrestleMania & Royal Rumble. New platform listed at $29.99 a month.

• ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service will include all of WWE’s live premium events beginning in 2026; ESPN will also simulcast select events on its linear networks.
• ESPN is paying TKO’s WWE an average of $325 million per year for five years, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The WWE’s premium events package has been on NBCUniversal’s Peacock. WWE SmackDown will remain on Peacock and USA Network.

Curious to see how they handle cable subscribers. Historically cable subscribers have had access to the app and everything on it. If they’re pushing people towards a DTC approach with app-exclusive content, with WWE being the first step, that’s another dark note for cable’s future.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

59 minutes ago, Gorman said:

I wonder what's going to happen to the archived shows on Peacock. Will ESPN keep them in a safe place? 

ESPN’s archive is pretty solid, just in my experience with ESPN+ (both as a subscriber and having provided content to them in the past). I suspect anything aired on ESPN will be fine. As far as past archives, I bet that’s going to get messy fast; they seem to be moving anything Attitude Era and earlier towards YouTube. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did analytics and found that it wasn’t worth including that in rights deals, and it was just better to slow-roll that stuff onto an ad-supported platform.

[zendragon]

9 minutes ago, Stefanie Sparkleface said:

ESPN’s archive is pretty solid, just in my experience with ESPN+ (both as a subscriber and having provided content to them in the past). I suspect anything aired on ESPN will be fine. As far as past archives, I bet that’s going to get messy fast; they seem to be moving anything Attitude Era and earlier towards YouTube. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did analytics and found that it wasn’t worth including that in rights deals, and it was just better to slow-roll that stuff onto an ad-supported platform.

I can't wait to finally watch AWA running shows in a big pink room (Verne was really ahead of his time with the Covid era shows!)

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

4 minutes ago, zendragon said:

I can't wait to finally watch AWA running shows in a big pink room (Verne was really ahead of his time with the Covid era shows!)

If they unearth Chris Adams ripping out Rod Price's weave, this will all be worth it.

[hammerva]

Unless they are completely changing the platform set up,  the problem won't be what is in the archive it is finding it in the archive.  The search option on current ESPN product is pretty awful.

 

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 minute ago, hammerva said:

Unless they are completely changing the platform set up,  the problem won't be what is in the archive it is finding it in the archive.  The search option on current ESPN product is pretty awful.

 

Yeah, the problem there is that they never figured out how to discern if you're looking for, say, USC. Do you mean Southern California or South Carolina? Do you mean women's basketball or football? Do you mean live sports or discussion? Etc etc etc.

It's always been better to just go to the sport you're looking for and drill down.

[Cliff Hanger]

56 minutes ago, Casey said:

I hate to say it but if you don’t go the VPN route for AEW - an annual subscription to this ESPN thing is almost $100 cheaper than ordering every AEW show at full price on Amazon or wherever.

Sure, but (a) I don't watch every AEW PPV and (b) I can split that cost with friends who aren't gonna kick in to watch Deadline with me like they might a Full Gear or All In.

[Niners Fan in CT]

C)  AEW PPVs are better. 

[dogwelder]

I'm HOPING that ESPN+ will be included with the new streaming service.  If so, that takes a little bit off the sting if I do sub to the new service.  I do the three-way Disney+ bundle because there's still some stuff from ESPN writers like DVDVR alum Bill Barnwell that I read which you need an ESPN+ sub for, so if the new service includes ESPN+ I can at least ditch that portion of the Disney+ bundle.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

7 minutes ago, dogwelder said:

I'm HOPING that ESPN+ will be included with the new streaming service.  If so, that takes a little bit off the sting if I do sub to the new service.  I do the three-way Disney+ bundle because there's still some stuff from ESPN writers like DVDVR alum Bill Barnwell that I read which you need an ESPN+ sub for, so if the new service includes ESPN+ I can at least ditch that portion of the Disney+ bundle.

It does. It’s all ESPN properties as one service. Apparently there’s a deal to include it in the Disney bundle once it launches in two weeks ($30 per month for a year for Hulu, Disney+, and this new ESPN) but they didn’t clarify whether or not it was just for new customers or for everyone.

[Niners Fan in CT]

That $30/month for the bundle is with ads on Hulu + ESPN + Disney+ and obviously all the ads you're forced to sit through with WWE PLEs.  

If you want the bundle for ad-free content it's $45/month 

Edited August 6, 2025 by Niners Fan in CT

[EVA]

I’ve long maintained that a significant contributor to the 2020’s WWE boom was the Peacock deal making it easier and more affordable than ever for your average fan to watch PPVs. Depending on what tier you’re on, this ESPN deal will double or triple that fan’s cost to get in. Another net negative on WWE’s audience reach. They’re 3 for 3 on shrinking their US audience with their latest deals.

Edited August 6, 2025 by EVA

[hammerva]

The biggest thing to worry about with WWE PLE is will it end up being like UFC where even though you paid for the monthly service you still have to pay the $30 - $50 more to see their PPVs?   Or will the new system be a subscription get you everything with no extra costs

Actually I know the worst thing about this deal.   Now we have to deal with Screaming A Smith on the pre and post shows with people like Rosenberg and Roberts 

Edited August 6, 2025 by hammerva

[Niners Fan in CT]

I mostly only care about the library. It sucks that it's now spread around everywhere and incomplete.  The PLE's are whatever.  Some of them are good,  some of them are boring.  I don't really give a shit until the product improves. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

NOTE -- It took every ounce of effort and willpower in my body not to name this thread "WWE Gets Off The Cock"

 

I'm very curious about how this is going to ripple out.  I get my ESPN+ via the Verizon Bundle with Hulu & Disney+ and that's obviously at a much discounted price than what ESPN+ will be charging by itself from now on.  

However, I'm not giving up Hulu because Bob's Burgers, Abbott Elementary, and IASIP are my comfort foods. And I don't want to give up Disney+ because The Simpsons, seasons 1-9.  And I certainly don't want to give up ESPN+ because that's how I get to watch the majority of Florida Panthers games.

 

And full disclosure, I don't really want to give up on Peacock either because a few months before his passing I gave Mr. Rasmussen a login, and I'm honestly not sure if his family is still using it.

[Log]

1 minute ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

And I don't want to give up Disney+ because The Simpsons, seasons 1-9.  

Love this little caveat. Very true.

[Casey]

Brandon Ross, a media analyst, says the archival content and NXT PLEs could go somewhere other than Peacock too. Maybe Netflix for the on demand stuff, but it’s all up for bidding. Their production costs for documentaries and PLEs are basically nothing now due to these huge media deals. Smackdown is with USA and Peacock until 2029.

Zach Arnold of MMADraw theorizes that TKO is doing all this 1) yeah because of these huge money deals but 2) to ice out “the competition” from being on any of these platforms. Mentions Paramount and says he’ll talk about that later? There’s another report that WWE is actively helping TNA negotiate with Peacock/Comcast so they get a suitable, cheaper replacement once WWE leaves them behind.

Edited August 6, 2025 by Casey

[RIPPA]

4 minutes ago, Casey said:

Zach Arnold of MMADraw theorizes that TKO is doing all this 1) yeah because of these huge money deals but 2) to ice out “the competition” from being on any of these platforms. Mentions Paramount and says he’ll talk about that later? There’s another report that WWE is actively helping TNA negotiate with Peacock/Comcast so they get a suitable, cheaper replacement once WWE leaves them behind.

HA!

I had no idea that is what Zach was doing now

[RIPPA]

It should be noted that no official start date was announced but it is basically known that it starts with Mania next year - since that is the headline in all the stories

[Niners Fan in CT]

24 minutes ago, Casey said:

Brandon Ross, a media analyst, says the archival content and NXT PLEs could go somewhere other than Peacock too.

Sounds like he didn't do enough digging.  The archival content is already being uploaded for free on YouTube. We saw that coming months ago.  And the NXT PLEs?  Who gives a shit?