ESPN inks five-year deal for WWE's live premium events including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble

Georgiana Dallas | WWE | Getty ImagesThe WWE is coming to ESPN.The Disney-controlled sports and entertainment will pay an average of $325 million per year for five years of U.S. rights to the WWE's biggest events, including WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam, beginning in 2026, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be naming speaking the deal specifics

Spokespeople at WWE and ESPN declined to .NBCUniversal's Peacock had previously paid $180 million per year over five years for the package, according to two people familiar with the matter.All 10 of the WWE's premium events each year will 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.Disney reported quarterly earnings Wednesday that showed domestic ESPN revenue up 1% to $3.93 billion

The WWE and ESPN have strategically moved closer together in recent years, said TKO Group President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro in an interview

TKO is the controlling owner of WWE

Shapiro, himself, was a top executive at ESPN in the early 2000s."In many ways, this is our destiny," said Shapiro. "If you want to expand the audience, our fan base, the fervor around WWE, and grow on a real significant national scale, you can't do that as it relates to the sports world without partnering with ESPN."ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said he would have been interested in bidding on the package of events even if ESPN weren't to debut its new ing service

Still, adding the events, for no extra charge, for rs of the digital duct will help reduce churn for fessional wrestling and help expand ESPN beyond traditional sports."Our place was built as the entertainment and sports graming network," said Pitaro, referencing the literal meaning of the acronym, "ESPN." "This is a fantastic way for us to expand our audience

It's younger, it's more diverse, and it's more female than what we see at the network level."Thirty-eight percent of WWE's audience are women, noted WWE President Nick Khan. 50% of people who attend WWE events come with children, he said in an interview."It's multigenerational viewing, and we think ESPN is multigenerational viewing," said Khan.In 2024, WWE signed a 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix to "Raw" every Monday night, beginning this year

Netflix will continue to marquee WWE events outside the U.S."SmackDown," which airs Fridays on USA Network, will continue to on Peacock

That deal expires in 2029, according to people familiar with the matter.Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and USA Network.Clarification: This story has been d to clarify that ESPN will hold the rights to WWE premium events in the U.S

Netflix holds those rights outside the U.S.