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ESPN Unlimited to become new home of WWE’s premium events

WrestleMania and SummerSlam will stream through the $30 per month plan, starting next year.

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The Walt Disney Company’s sports brand ESPN has inked a multi-year deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to become the new digital distributor of live premium events from the professional wrestling franchise, starting next year.

The deal will include live pay-per-view events — which WWE now calls “premium live events” —  like WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and Money in the Bank, which will be available through ESPN’s forthcoming streaming plan ESPN Unlimited. Most cable and satellite subscribers have included access to ESPN Unlimited, which costs $30 per month on its own.

Those live events have been available on Comcast’s streaming service Peacock for the past few years. Peacock will continue to host the WWE content library, including back episodes of “Raw” and “Smackdown,” which are separate from the WWE’s deal with ESPN.

“WWE has an immense, devoted and passionate fanbase that we’re excited to super-serve on our new ESPN DTC platform,” said Jimmy Pitaro, the Chairman of ESPN. “This agreement…bolsters our unprecedented content portfolio and helps drive our streaming future.”

The multi-year pact also gives ESPN the ability to stream WWE’s pre- and post-event coverage, expanding its live and shoulder content offerings. It further positions ESPN as a hub for major sports and entertainment events, complementing its existing relationship with UFC, also under the TKO Group umbrella.

“WWE Premium Live Events are renowned for exactly the type of rich storytelling, incredible feats of athleticism and can’t-miss, cultural tent pole experiences that have become synonymous with ESPN,” said Mark Shapiro, the President and Chief Operating Officer of TKO Group. “We know this will be an exceptional partnership.”

Nick Khan, WWE President, called the partnership a “pivotal moment” for fans, saying, “Bringing WWE’s flagship events to ESPN’s platform is tremendously exciting. We know the sky is the limit.”

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is the award-winning founder and editor of TheDesk.net, an authoritative voice on broadcast and streaming TV, media and tech. With over ten years of experience, he's a recognized expert in broadcast, streaming, and digital media, with work featured in publications such as StreamTV Insider and Digital Content Next, and past roles at Thomson Reuters and Disney-ABC Television Group.
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