The massive news on Wednesday was that WWE had found a brand new broadcasting partner come 2026, agreeing to a five 12 months, $1.6 billion take care of ESPN to air all WWE PLE’s, including WrestleMania, on ESPN’s upcoming DTC streaming service. But that wasn’t all, as reports further indicated certain episodes of “Sportscenter” would happen at the situation of WWE PLE’s, ESPN would air pre and post-show events for WWE, and ESPN had the rights to create their very own WWE original content, should they select so.
A few of those details have since been confirmed by Jimmy Pitaro, the President and chairman of ESPN Inc. Speaking with Variety shortly after the WWE/ESPN deal was announced, Pitaro was understandably all smiles, as he believes that WWE’s endurance might be a large boost to ESPN’s brand.
“WWE goes to assist us get younger,” Pitaro said. “It should help us get more diverse. It should help us herald more females.”
To that end, Pitaro revealed that he fully expected “other forms of programming” involving WWE to be created by each ESPN and Disney, ESPN’s parent company, though he provided no timetable for when these projects could get off the bottom. It was noted that these projects could see WWE collaborating with other ESPN broadcasting partners, including the NBA, figures akin to TKO board member Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who’s UFL football league airs on ESPN, and ESPN/WWE personality Pat McAfee. These projects can be along with existing collaborations between WWE and ESPN, including the show “Stephanie’s Places,” which premiered on ESPN+ this past spring.