WWE and ESPN Reportedly Discussing PPV Streaming Deal

WWE is reportedly still shopping around their PPV rights, with the latest party reportedly being the most well-known sports broadcaster.

According to a report in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE and ESPN have been discussing the possibility of WWE selling their PPV rights to the network's ESPN+ service. UFC currently airs their PPV events through ESPN+ and got a hefty payday for doing so, which is reported to have opened WWE's eyes to the possibility.

Of course, one major difference between the ESPN/UFC deal and a possible ESPN/WWE deal would be the fact that UFC had still been selling their PPV events at full price prior to the deal with ESPN. This allowed ESPN to require viewers to have $4.99/month subscription to ESPN+ while still charging $64.99 for each singular PPV event. WWE has been broadcasting their PPVs on the WWE Network now for six years while only charging the $9.99 monthly fee for the Network.

While it's certainly possible that ESPN could add the WWE PPV events and charge a PPV purchase fee on top of the ESPN+ subscription, as they currently do with UFC, one would think that would be a tough sell to the wrestling audience given they have now been conditioned to expect PPV events at a much smaller price point. Perhaps a surcharge for just the biggest events of the year, such as Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, or WrestleMania, would make sense. However, a price of over $50/per show as the events were prior to the start of the WWE Network seems like a fantasy. It would be intriguing to see how that decision making process plays out.

Either way, WWE continues to have discussions with several streaming service partners about selling their PPV rights. Should this eventually happen, the WWE Network will see enormous changes (and likely, a massive drop in subscribers) moving forward.

Would you keep your WWE Network subscription if WWE removes their RAW and SmackDown PPV events from the service? Let us know in the comments section below, and give me a follow on Twitter @ryandroste for all things WWE.