ESPN denies reports that it has decided not to renew its agreement with WWE: 'It's completely false'

It has been a year since WWE and ESPN reached an agreement for the exclusive broadcast of WWE's PLE on ESPN+. Since then, much has been said about the profitability of that operation for ESPN, especially after the lukewarm reception of their initial shows, including the first -and so far only- edition of Wrestlepalooza.

Throughout these twelve months, personalities from ESPN, including its president Burke Magnus, have praised the dedication of WWE and its superstars, although they have also admitted that they are still in a very early stage of the relationship to draw definitive conclusions about it.

This afternoon, PWInsider echoed a news story published by SEScoops journalist BJ Bethel, according to which ESPN had no plans to continue its relationship with WWE when their current five-year contract expires. After the uproar caused by this publication, PWInsider contacted ESPN, who immediately released a statement regarding the matter.

There is no truth to the information that we have decided not to renew. They never contacted us before publishing the news and, if they had, we would have told them that it was completely false.

WWE's new era on ESPN has experienced some changes compared to the previous era on Peacock, such as the broadcast of the first hour of PLE on the ESPN channel for free. This led the streaming platform to request an expansion of the SummerSlam card beyond five matches per night. Meanwhile, Joe Fortenbaugh, an ESPN analyst, stated earlier this month that the company is still exploring its relationship with WWE.