WWE is exiting the Peacock business early next year and packing their bags to go to one of the most recognizable brands on television: ESPN.
The two companies this morning announced a five-year agreement worth over $1.6 billion, or $325 million a year, which will see ESPN’s newest direct-to-consumer streaming service airing WWE’s monthly premium live events in the United States.
Simply titled ESPN, the new service will launch later this month on August 21 and will cost $29.99 a month (keep reading, don’t freak out yet) as a standalone or $35.99 a month when bundled with Disney+ and Hulu after the first year. The first year will get you ESPN, Disney+ and Hulu for the original $29.99 price.
The all-in-one new ESPN service will consist of all the ESPN content, including for the first time ever the ability to stream the ESPN main channels without a cable subscription.
There will be two tiers, the select tier with $11.99 a month and the unlimited tier with $29.99 a month or $300 a year.
The select tier will have everything that ESPN+ currently has while the unlimited tier will have the flagship ESPN channel, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, ACC Network, SEC Network, and ESPN on ABC shows. An introductory offer is expected to include Disney+ and Hulu for year for free for the unlimited tier.
What does that mean for WWE fans?
Currently, all WWE premium live events air on Peacock for a much cheaper price. That will go away before WrestleMania when the deal expires and WWE jumps ship to ESPN.
Unlike the UFC where you have to pay the pay-per-view price plus the subscription to ESPN+, WWE premium live events will be part of the service and will not cost anything extra, basically the same as Peacock. Select premium live events will also air on ESPN’s linear TV channels, although it was not indicated which ones will be screened.
Anyone who already has ESPN through their traditional TV cable package will not pay extra for the service, which means in that case, you will drop the Peacock subscription and get the ESPN streaming service free as part of your cable package. You would need to authenticate to the new ESPN using your cable credentials to unlock the free service. Services such as DirecTV, YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live, Comcast, etc all qualify to get the free ESPN and WWE premium live events.
Just a few days ago, ESPN and NFL announced that ESPN will acquire the NFL Network and other media assets in exchange for the league taking a 10% stake in the network. Other properties ESPN is taking over from NFL are the linear RedZone Channel and NFL Fantasy. NFL will also license to ESPN certain NFL content and other intellectual property to be used by NFL Network and other assets.
Keep in mind, this deal is only for viewers in the United States. All international fans will continue to enjoy their WWE shows on Netflix.
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