Followers in america are going to have to alter up their subscription plans, as WWE PLEs, resembling WrestleMania, are making a transfer to the brand new streaming service ESPN+.
WWE and ESPN made the announcement on Wednesday, August 6, 2025. In 2026, a number of annual PLEs, together with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Collection, and Cash within the Financial institution, will now be produced solely for ESPN platforms in america.
“WWE has an immense, devoted, and passionate fan base that we’re so excited to super-serve on our new ESPN DTC platform,” mentioned ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro. “This settlement, which options essentially the most vital WWE occasions of the 12 months, bolsters our unprecedented content material portfolio and helps drive our streaming future.”
The transfer is the most recent acquisition by ESPN. The NFL lately agreed to promote NFL Media to the media conglomerate, together with their coveted NFL Community.
Now, WWE PLEs will be a part of ESPN+’s programming, starting in 2026. The streaming service will launch on Thursday, August 21, 2025. Subscriptions will begin at $29.99/month.
What does the ESPN transfer imply for WWE WrestleMania and different PLEs?
WWE shifting their PLEs to ESPN signifies that followers will now must subscribe to a brand new streaming service in america. Beforehand, they streamed on Peacock for United States prospects. They might stream on Netflix in worldwide territories.
It appears like all PLEs can be on the streaming service. They named the annual occasions like WrestleMania, however anticipate B-level PLEs to solely be obtainable on ESPN+ as properly.
ESPN+ comes with a heftier price ticket for subscribers. It sounds just like the WWE PLEs will solely be obtainable on the brand new streaming service. Earlier than the Peacock streaming deal, the PLEs, which had been referred to as PPVs (pay-per-views), had been in a position to be purchased on-demand when the present aired.
Enterprise has been booming for WWE, who simply held their first-ever two-night SummerSlam. They’re additionally returning to Las Vegas for WrestleMania 42 after a record-breaking weekend in April 2025.
In the meantime, ESPN+ has been bulking up their programming. Including WWE PLEs is yet one more high-profile addition to their lineup.