ESPN to Exclusively Air WWE WrestleMania, PLEs in 2026 in USA After Historic Contract

ESPN announced Wednesday that it reached an agreement to become the new platform for all WWE premium live events starting in 2026.

In a press release, ESPN divulged that all WWE PLEs will be available on its upcoming, direct-to-consumer streaming service beginning next year, with select events simulcasting on its linear television channels as well.

Per CNBC's Alex Sherman, the pact between WWE and ESPN is for a total of $1.625 billion over five years, which equates to $325 million annually.

ESPN will be the exclusive home for all WWE PLEs domestically in the United States, headlined by WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and Money in the Bank.

WWE President Nick Khan commented on the new partnership with ESPN, saying:

"WWE's agreement with ESPN is a pivotal moment for our millions of fans across the United States: the leader in sports entertainment partnering with the biggest brand in sports media. Bringing WWE's flagship events to ESPN's platform is tremendously exciting. We know the sky is the limit."

Back in 2014, WWE was ahead of the curve with the launch of its first over-the-top streaming service called WWE Network. In the U.S., all WWE PLEs were available on WWE Network from 2014 to 2021, essentially eliminating WWE's longstanding pay-per-view model.

The end of WWE Network domestically occurred in early 2021 when WWE reached a deal with NBCUniversal for all WWE PLEs to stream on Peacock.

In addition to PLEs, Peacock became the home of WWE's extensive video library, and it remains so to this day.

It isn't yet clear if the WWE library will stay on Peacock, migrate to ESPN or another streaming service, or perhaps live on WWE's multiple YouTube channels since the company has been uploading full premium live events and other archived content onto YouTube regularly for the past several months.

For ESPN, the agreement with WWE marks the second major announcement for the network in as many days. On Tuesday, ESPN acquired NFL Network and RedZone from the NFL, and the NFL took on a 10 percent equity stake in ESPN.

The new ESPN streaming service, which will be known simply as ESPN, is scheduled to launch on Aug. 21.

In addition to WWE PLEs and WWE PLE pre- and post-shows, all seven of ESPN's domestic linear channels and ESPN on ABC will stream on the platform at a cost of $29.99 per month.