WWE and ESPN commentator Pat McAfee had plenty to say about the two sporting brands joining forces with today’s announcement.
“Congrats to WWE and ESPN on getting a historic PLE deal done. Great to see 2 powerhouses of sports and entertainment come together,” he posted on X.
He then took a swing at some who work at ESPN.
“I assume all the mid level, powerless, bum ass suits at ESPN will attempt to muddy this somehow (out of context leaks/ignorant anonymous opinions/etc.) but, in the end.. this agreement will outlive the dinosaurs currently guarding desks in Bristol and this deal will be great for ESPN. Cheers to the future,” he sniped.
Some more details have leaked about the WWE’s rights deals in the U.S. It seems when the WWE’s deal is done with Peacock they will be shopping its vast network library and WWE NXT Premium Live Events to a separate streaming service, with Netflix being the leader in those negotiations.
If that happens USA viewership will need a Netflix subscription to watch Raw and NXT PLEs, a TV/cable subscription that includes USA Network to watch Smackdown and a subscription to ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service launching August 21 to watch WWE’s Premium Live Events (PLEs). NXT on the CW is free-to-air programming.
Outside of the USA, Netflix is the exclusive home for almost all WWE programming including Raw, SmackDown, NXT, as well as all the Premium Live Events, plus much of their archival library, original specials and documentaries in supported regions.
Earlier today Disney (ESPN) and WWE inked a deal which will see all of their PLEs move from Peacock to ESPN’s new $29.99 per month platform in the USA.
https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2025/08/06/report-wwe-and-disney-sign-ple-deal/#google_vignette
