Earlier this month, WWE and ESPN announced a five-year,
$6.5 billion deal for the PLEs to move to ESPN.
By Ryan Glasspiegel
Aug 20, 2025 | 04:05 pm
The Indianapolis Star
WWE Premium Live Events (PLEs) are migrating from NBC’s
Peacock streaming service to ESPN’s direct-to-consumer
network sooner than previously planned.
Earlier this month, WWE and ESPN announced a five-year, $6.5
billion deal for the PLEs to move to ESPN beginning with
WrestleMania next year. However, WWE and ESPN announced
Wednesday that the partnership is starting six months
sooner.
Peacock’s final show will be Clash in Paris on Aug. 31, and
ESPN will take the baton starting with Wrestlepalooza on
Sept. 20 in Indianapolis.
The nature of the arrangement of how Peacock and WWE decided
to end the PLE portion of their deal early was not
immediately clear. WWE remains in business with NBC
Universal with Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC and
Smackdown on USA Network (which is getting spun off into the
Versant portfolio). It was also not immediately clear if the
end date has changed on the pact between WWE and ESPN, as
far as whether it now concludes in September 2030 or still
in March 2031 as originally planned.
ESPN’s direct-to-consumer service launches Aug. 21 and will
cost $29.99 a month, or $39.99 a month when bundled with the
new Fox One streamer.
There has been some confusion about whether people who
currently subscribe to ESPN via cable, satellite, or OTT
bundles will receive access to the WWE PLEs and the rest of
the content on ESPN’s direct-to-consumer network.
ESPN does not currently have deals with Xfinity, Cox,
Optimum, or YouTube TV for subscriber authentication, but
customers of DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Charter, Fubo, and
Verizon Fios will have access at no additional cost.
