ESPN under fire for WWE deal; public statement issued

ESPN and WWE partnership. (Photo: WWE on X)
ESPN and WWE partnership. (Photo: WWE on X)

WWE and ESPN announced a multi-year partnership back in August, which began with Wrestlepalooza last month. However, the deal is currently under fire due to rumored low numbers, but the worldwide leader in sports and entertainment released a statement to address it.

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Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer analyzed the current numbers of the partnership that would lead to around $30 to $37.5 million in revenue for ESPN. It's well above the annual worth of what the network is paying annually, which is widely believed to be around $325 million per year.

The estimated loss for ESPN has been picked up by other non-wrestling news outlets, prompting the network to release a statement. DAZN's Steven Muehlhausen provided the response on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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"Things are going well and we have started strong. We don't provide the viewership specifics, but things have been going well," the statement read.

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The next Premium Live Event on ESPN's new platform was Crown Jewel: Perth, which is considered a success by WWE. It will be interesting to see how it performed for the sports network. There's also one PLE left in the schedule, Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29 in San Diego, California.


WWE Crown Jewel: Perth receives better grade from ESPN

While Wrestlepalooza was considered a successful PLE by the numbers, ESPN's Andreas Hale was critical of it and gave it a disappointing grade of C-. It was a shocking development since someone from the network was able to publish it.

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Nevertheless, WWE had their hands full to improve the product for Crown Jewel: Perth earlier this month. The company made some changes and received a better grade of B from Hale.

"A show that stumbled out of the gates with a relatively tame street fight and a far too brief affair between women’s champions was rescued by an absolutely stellar match between Cena and Styles that put an excellent bookend to their rivalry. Rollins finally getting his comeuppance against Rhodes — by any means necessary — and the women’s tag match were both strong and anchored a memorable bounce back for WWE after a middling Wrestlepalooza," Hale wrote.

With Survivor Series: WarGames among the 'Big 4' Premium Live Events, the match card could be stacked.

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Edited by JP David
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