For the past five years, WWE fans have had it great with the WWE Network. For just 10$ a month, you get access to a massive backlog of content, as well as all new PPVs. You can even get shows like Wrestlemania for free by signing up for a new account, due to a consistent 30 day free trial. It has made these major events easier to access than ever, but this experiment might be ending soon.
The WWE Network won’t be going anywhere, and it will still have the huge archive and specials we’ve come to love, but it might not be the home for all the PPV action. Reports indicate that WWE are speaking with ESPN to put their PPV’s on the ESPN+ streaming service.
Why Would WWE Do This?
At the end of the day, WWE are a business. Their goal is to make money, and while they are the most profitable wrestling company around, things are starting to slip. Attendance and ratings are down, and they haven’t gotten as many paid subscribers as they would have hoped using the WWE Network.
By selling the rights to these major events to ESPN, they stand to make money from the deal and possibly get more eyes on their product again due to much better advertising potential. ESPN+ recently ran a major boxing match in Fury vs. Wilder, and potentially got over a million PPV buys, making it obvious why WWE is so interested.
Will This Actually Benefit Fans?
While the benefits for WWE are obvious with it meaning they get a lot of money, there could be a perk for fans. With the WWE Network, they have gotten lazy and uninspired with their PPV events. While major events like Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and Royal Rumble deliver on the hype, you won’t see many people getting excited over Elimination Chamber the same way.
If WWE outsources their PPV events to another company, there is now more pressure on them to have these events succeed in order to keep that deal alive. This could mean a more focused approach to WWE programming, rather than the scattered and incoherent booking we have seen in the recent past from them. They will be more likely to get behind stars fans are actually supporting, and not rely on failed projects like Roman Reigns to draw in viewers.
We will likely still see events like the Saudi Supershows and NXT Takeovers on the WWE Network, meaning its value won’t plummet, but it will have a bit less worth should this deal go through. Would this make you unsubscribe from the WWE Network, or will you stay for the specials and archive? Let us know in the comments down below.
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