ESPN made a flurry of announcements in advance of Disney’s earnings call Wednesday, including the launch date for its new direct-to-subscriber service, yet more deals with the NFL (including a Draft extension) and a surprise deal with the WWE.
ESPN said Wednesday that its new direct-to-subscriber service will launch on August 21 for a previously announced monthly price of $30. The service will include the ability to stream all of ESPN’s current linear networks. (NFL Network, which ESPN is set to acquire as part of a new deal with the NFL, will not be included until said deal is finalized and approved by the government, a process that could take the better part of a year.)
Notably, the new app will include select out-of-market NFL preseason games as soon as this season, and the ability to bundle NFL+ Premium, which includes NFL RedZone. Those details are part of a new deal ESPN announced Wednesday.
ESPN announced still a third deal with the NFL on Wednesday, a multi-year contract to continue carrying the NFL Draft. Under the deal, coverage of the event will continue to air on ESPN and ABC, but can now also be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu. In addition, ESPN2 will begin airing a daily NFL Draft show on “most days” between the Super Bowl and the draft.
In a rare non-NFL deal, ESPN also announced Wednesday that it has struck a deal with the WWE to become the exclusive home of the wrestling series’ premium live events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and Money in the Bank. The ESPN direct-to-subscriber service will stream all of the events in their entirety, and some will be simulcast on ESPN linear platforms.
The deal, which puts ESPN back in business with its former executive Mark Shapiro, now of TKO, goes into effect next year. According to Isabella Simonetti and Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal, ESPN will pay the WWE $325 million/year over five years, an increase over the $180 million/year previous rightsholder Peacock was paying for the package.
ESPN has never carried live WWE events, but during the COVID sports hiatus, it did air several re-airs of WrestleMania.
