WWE Announces Massive Deal To Bring All PLEs To ESPN

With 2026 not far off the horizon, WWE was going to have some decisions to make, chiefly regarding the home for their premium live events. The promotion has aired their PLE's on Peacock over the past four years, but with their contract set to expire in March 2026, questions abounded over whether the promotion would look to remain on Peacock, or seek a new home.

The answer has turned out to be the latter. In a Wednesday morning press release, WWE and ESPN announced an agreement that will see ESPN become the domestic home for all WWE PLEs starting in 2026. The release states that the upcoming ESPN DTC streaming service, set to launch later this month, will stream all WWE PLE's annually, along with select simulcasts on other ESPN platforms.

No financial terms were disclosed in the press release, but The Wall Street Journal has since reported that the contract between the two sides is for five years and worth $1.6 billion, equaling out to $325 million per year, a 1.6x increase over the Peacock deal. Wrestlenomics reports that ESPN's flagship show, "Sportscenter," will broadcast on location for certain WWE PLE's, and that ESPN has the rights to create original WWE content, and air the pre and post-shows following PLE's.

It has been confirmed that the rights to the WWE's video library weren't included in this ESPN deal, nor were the rights to "WWE NXT" PLE's. This would allow WWE to seek deals with other platforms for the library and "NXT PLE's" if they chose, though it's unclear whether they will do so. No start date was mentioned, but as noted, the Peacock deal is set to expire in March, making WrestleMania 42 the most likely show for WWE and ESPN to launch their partnership.