WWE Network Sale Has Caused "Issues" Between WWE And ESPN

WWE News - ESPN no longer showing WWE content after sale to NBC Universal.

by Andrew Pollard
Vince McMahon
WWE

The big talk of the wrestling business today is that NBCUniversal has agreed a five-year, $1 billion dollar deal to exclusively feature the WWE Network on its Peacock Premium streaming service.

In the fallout of this, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live have reported how this latest deal has majorly impacted the relationship between WWE and ESPN – to the extent that ESPN has now made the decision to cease airing any and all WWE content.

Elaborating on this, Meltzer and Alvarez detailed how there had previously been talks between ESPN and WWE in regard to the WWE Network. Likewise, there have long been those rumours of Disney – the parent company of ESPN – having had interest in purchasing WWE outright.

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ESPN is said to have received word three weeks ago that they would not be getting any deal to house the WWE Network, and that spurred the sports network powerhouse to opt to stop showing anything WWE-related.

Elsewhere, this latest edition of Wrestling Observer Live saw it speculated that NBCUniversal could well go hard in trying to land SmackDown down the line. Presently, the NBCU-owned USA Network houses both RAW and NXT, while SmackDown is tied down to several more years at FOX.

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It was even suggested that, should NBCUniversal manage to grab the rights to SmackDown once the FOX deal is up, NBCU could even move to try and purchase WWE outright.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.