Does ESPN Want To Cover WWE Like A Real Sport?

The working relationship between WWE and television giant ESPN could lead to more mainstream coverage of WWE SummerSlam since it's taking place in New York City. It was noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Jonathon Coachman, who previously worked for WWE as an announcer as well as authority figure, has been pushing for ESPN to cover SummerSlam as if it was a real sporting event. According to the report, some people within ESPN think that WWE is really hot right now, even though ratings are at record lows and attendance numbers are down too. There are also others at ESPN that are dead-set against the idea of covering WWE like a real sport because it's really just a form of entertainment.

Earlier this week, ESPN's Sportscenter did a feature on John Cena meeting a Make-A-Wish kid. They also produced a E:60 special a few months ago about WWE's developmental process in NXT. When Brock Lesnar announced his new WWE contract prior to WrestleMania, he did so on ESPN, which is rare because there's no other WWE performer that would get to do something like that. Normally WWE puts SummerSlam in Los Angeles because they want to get as much media exposure as possible, but they went to the east coast because the state of California already had WrestleMania. The advantage of doing the show in a huge market is getting more attention from the media like ESPN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hpmdj8ITSg