ESPN President Gives Honest Opinion On WWE Partnership So Far

WWE is in the middle of a huge uptick in their business. The company is driving in a ton of revenue, and we’re only months away from the Road to WrestleMania. ESPN brought a ton of new eyes to WWE as well, and they are very happy about how things are working out.

In September, WWE and ESPN partnered to bring every WWE premium live event to the ESPN Unlimited platform. Fans will now have to tune in to that platform to watch the company’s premium live events.

Since the agreement started, WWE talent has appeared across ESPN programs to promote upcoming events. That cross-promotion is certainly something that everyone has benefited from, fans included.

On the SI Media podcast with Jimmy Traina, ESPN President Burke Magnus was asked how the relationship is working so far. Naturally, with WrestleMania 42 around the corner in Las Vegas, things are certainly looking up.

“It’s gone great so far. We’re very familiar with Nick Khan and the team over there. We’ve had engagement with them for years in much smaller ways. They are fantastic to work with. They really hustle on behalf of their property. Those appearances don’t just happen unless you have a league to make those people available. The superstars are highly engaged in promoting themselves, the broader WWE, and their stories. It’s been really good so far. We’re looking forward to WrestleMania this year, which would be our first. We’ve had two PLEs to date, one was in the Middle East, so it was on an off-hour. Wrestlepalooza was new. Survivor Series this weekend is going to be a really good measuring stick for how it’s going. In terms of the interaction between the team at WWE and us, it’s been great.”

WWE Survivor Series will stream on ESPN Unlimited this Saturday, November 29. Fans will pack Petco Park in San Diego, California for the premium live event, but even more will tune in to see the action at home.

We will have to see what is in the future for WWE’s partnership with ESPN. At this point, there seems to be no downside to this enormous deal.

What’s your take on WWE and ESPN partnering up? Do you like the new ESPN setup for WWE? Or, do you miss the WWE Network for $9.99 a month? Let us know what you think in the comments section!