Nick Khan Thinks WWE Fans Will Happily Pay $29.99 to Follow Them to ESPN

WWE President Nick Khan is confident fans won’t blink at a massive price hike when WWE Premium Live Events move from Peacock to ESPN’s new streaming platform in 2026.

On The Varsity podcast, Khan addressed the $29.99-per-month price tag for ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer service. Despite the steep jump from Peacock’s current $10.99 subscription, Khan believes fans are loyal enough to follow WWE wherever it goes.

“Will the subs follow the product to whatever that new platform is? I think we’ve demonstrated to Peacock our subs will follow. They certainly all followed from the WWE Network, and that expanded that subscriber-ship extensively with Peacock. Same will be the case with ESPN and we’re excited for that.”

WWE recently inked a $1.625 billion, five-year deal with ESPN, which will make ESPN the exclusive U.S. home for WWE pay-per-views starting in 2026. Events like WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble will no longer stream on Peacock—instead, they’ll be locked behind ESPN’s $29.99 monthly subscription.

Khan’s bet is bold. While he sees the fanbase as loyal enough to absorb the nearly 3x price hike, others see this as WWE cashing in at the fans’ expense. The Peacock transition in 2021 was smooth because it was cheaper. This time, it’s a direct hit to subscribers’ wallets.

Though some cable subscribers with ESPN access may be able to get the new platform for free, there’s no official bundle or discount yet for wrestling fans. The deal doesn’t include RAW (moving to Netflix in 2025) or SmackDown (staying on USA Network until 2029), but all major WWE PLEs will fall under ESPN’s umbrella.

WWE may have scored big with this billion-dollar payday—but it’s banking on one thing: fans won’t think twice about paying more than ever before.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.