ESPN isn’t waiting five years to address claims that it’s already planning to walk away from WWE. After a report claimed the network has decided not to renew its massive deal once the current contract expires, ESPN flat-out says that isn’t true.
According to Justin Barrasso on August 25, an ESPN spokesperson directly denied the report that the network has already decided against renewing WWE, making it very clear there is absolutely no truth to that claim.
“There is no truth to the report that we have decided not to renew.”
That response comes after BJ Bethel reported that ESPN would not renew its five-year agreement with WWE once the deal runs its course. The report claimed there were several issues behind the decision, including problems with “culture and synergy” between WWE and ESPN, the current media market and cable providers failing to pick up the cost of ESPN’s Unlimited app for customers.
It also claimed that ESPN never originally planned to shoulder so much of the responsibility for selling the service directly to consumers. WWE premium live events have since become available through additional tiers, while ESPN has also increased WWE promotion across its programming.
The relationship is a pretty expensive one to write off this early. WWE and ESPN agreed to their five-year deal in 2025, with ESPN paying approximately $1.625 billion for WWE premium live event rights. That works out to roughly $325 million per year.
There have also been some growing pains. ESPN’s increased WWE coverage has received criticism from some traditional sports viewers, while subscription prices and distribution of the Unlimited service have continued to change. But that’s a very different thing from ESPN already deciding what it will do when the contract expires years from now.
For now, there are two completely different stories being told. One report says ESPN has already decided it won’t renew WWE. ESPN itself says that decision simply hasn’t been made. With four years still left on the deal, there’s plenty of time for the relationship to go in either direction. ESPN just doesn’t want anyone writing the ending this early.
What do you make of ESPN shutting down the report about its WWE future? Let us know in the comments.
