ESPN defends its $325 million deal with WWE after the subscriber increase

The $325 million annual agreement between ESPN and WWE is beginning to show signs of profitability earlier than expected. Despite initial doubts about the cost of the contract, and rumors about the limited increase in sales, the first data shows that the arrival of wrestling content on the sports giant's platform is attracting an unexpected volume of new subscribers.

As revealed by Austin Karp, a journalist for Sports Business Journal, on the podcast The Sports Media Podcast, the debut of WWE's live events on ESPN caused a clear spike in service sign-ups. The analytics firm Antenna's figures recorded peaks in subscriptions coinciding with major sports broadcasts, and one of the highest occurred during WrestlePalooza.

You see the peaks during the NFL, college football, and especially at the end of September, when ESPN aired its first live WWE event. WrestlePalooza really boosted subscriptions.

Held on September 20 in Indianapolis, WrestlePalooza featured a lineup with top names, including matches like John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed Championship against Drew McIntyre. The media impact of the event directly translated into an increase in subscribers for ESPN, marking a promising start for the alliance.

Not everyone shares that enthusiasm. Analyst Dave Meltzer warned that, despite the temporary increase, the actual profits could be much lower than the investment. On his show Wrestling Observer Radio, he estimated that current revenues would only cover a fraction of the annual amount committed by the network.

ESPN, far from being deterred by the criticism, responded with a brief but firm statement: "Things are going well and we have started strong. We do not provide specific audience figures, but the results are positive," spokesperson Steven Muehlhausen noted through DAZN.