Roman Reigns Defends $29.99 ESPN Move: “It’s Huge for Our Fan Base”

WWE just scored a $1.625 billion payday with ESPN — and Roman Reigns is all in.

The Tribal Chief addressed the game-changing news during his recent appearance on ESPN’s First Take, where he reacted to the massive five-year deal that moves WWE Premium Live Events — including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble — to ESPN’s $29.99-per-month streaming platform starting in 2026. Reigns called the deal just another step in WWE’s evolution and gave props to WWE leadership for pulling it off.

“It—it’s almost like the news cycle in itself. It’s always something new for us. It seems to always be bigger and better.”

He credited WWE President Nick Khan and Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque for continuing to level up the brand.

“You know, I think Nick Khan has done a great job. Paul has done a great job of leading us, and the proof is in the pudding. We just keep leveling up. And this is no different.”

Asked what this ESPN partnership means for the WWE Universe, Reigns emphasized the growth potential — and didn’t hold back in praising the platform.

“I think it’s a chance to continue to grow. I mean, anytime you can team up with a platform like ESPN—I mean, you guys are the sports media leaders. Nobody does it better than you guys. So, to help us tell these stories, to help us reach and have as much attention—it’s an obvious partnership. So, it’s huge for our fan base.”

But this deal isn’t just about exposure — it’s about pressure. Reigns made it clear that working with ESPN raises the bar for WWE’s talent, production, and overall vision moving forward.

“100%. Like we said—we’re just continually trying to get better. We don’t think we’re in our final form at all. And it’s entertainment, so it’s just always evolving. It’s ever-changing.”

“But that’s the type of pressure we like to put on ourselves—to be able to team up with an ESPN. We know we have to get better. We know we have to get bigger. We know we’re going to be reaching a bigger audience. So, I think that’s just—without being said—we’re going to make it bigger.”

The ESPN deal brings in more money than WWE ever made from its Peacock agreement — $325 million per year, nearly doubling the $180 million annual haul from NBCUniversal. But it comes at a cost to fans, who will soon need to pay nearly triple the monthly rate to stream WWE’s top shows.

While the company celebrates record-breaking revenue, Roman Reigns is already looking at how to elevate the product even more. The stakes — and the subscription fees — have never been higher.

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