Age of The Nerd
World Wrestling Entertainment is heading to ESPN in 2026. The juggernaut of professional wrestling, which made it to the mainstream back in the 1980s, has a lot of people talking. At 6 am earlier this week, it was announced that WWE is moving all of its PLEs to an ESPN platform next year.
Disney, which owns ESPN, will pay an average of $325 million per year for five years of U.S. rights to the WWE’s biggest live events, including WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, beginning in 2026. NBCUniversal’s Peacock had previously paid $180 million per year over five years for WWE’s library and PLEs.
All 10 of WWE’s premium live events each year will stream on ESPN’s new $29.99 per month direct-to-consumer platform in the U.S. Select events will be simulcast on ESPN’s linear networks. Fans took to social media in outrage after the announcement. Fans are already having to pay for a Netflix subscription for Monday Night Raw.
It seems many fans will be tuning out WWE content, including John Cena, once he leaves the company later this year. But it’s all about the money in WWE’s eyes, which at the end of the day is a business. But how much money does a multi-billion-dollar company want its fanbase to pay to watch its content?
