Only one year into ’s five-year deal to air World Wrestling Entertainment events on its Unlimited app, the network won’t be renewing the contract when it expires.
Multiple sources told SEScoops the deal faced several problems, including the current media market, “culture and synergy” issues between the two companies and the failure of cable providers to pick up the cost of the app for customers.
Take dirtsheet reports with a grain of salt, of course, but if this is true, if ESPN has such massive buyer's remorse that they are already planning to not renew the deal 1 year into a 5-year contract, that is fucking hilarious.
11 Comments
rozodru@piefed.world · 6 pts · 13d
don't blame them for having buyers remorse especially with the current WWE product.
Montagge@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 13d
It always seemed an odd fit. Sports and sports entertainment may share the word sports, but they're very different products.
ryper@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 13d
AEW airs on a sports network in Canada (TSN), WWE was on a sports network (SportsNet) here before it moved to Netflix, and TNA got a deal with that network after WWE left.
Montagge@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 13d
That's a good point! Where is SportsNet at? I'm not familiar with that one.
ryper@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 13d
Sportsnet is Canadian too.
zewm@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 14d
The gang pull a fast one on ESPN.
I’m pretty sure ESPN hated WWE from day 1. This was a deal made by higher ups.
lazylemons@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 14d
Imagine if they come crawling back to Peacock.
siv9939@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 13d
ESPN has denied the report that they're not going renew the deal. Price hike is still going to happen, though.
ImADifferentBird@piefed.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 13d
I mean, I wouldn't have expected them to confirm the story through official channels this early in the contract term. But hey.
siv9939@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 13d
Fair enough. Even if they currently don't want to renew the deal, a lot can happen in 4 years.
ImADifferentBird@piefed.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 13d
True, a lot can change in four years.