The fallout from WWE’s new media rights agreement with ESPN is becoming clearer, with ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’ now set to stream exclusively on Peacock. The move is part of the negotiated early exit for WWE’s Premium Live Events from the NBCUniversal-owned service and is designed to help Peacock retain subscribers.
This strategic shift extends to one of the year’s biggest planned broadcasts: John Cena’s retirement show on December 13, which will now bypass NBC entirely and air exclusively on Peacock. The decision comes as NBC was reportedly disappointed in the linear television ratings for ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’, despite the show outperforming most other Saturday programming.
Financially, the new five-year agreement with ESPN represents a significant increase for WWE, averaging $325 million annually compared to the nearly $190 million Peacock was paying this year. The deal, now set to run through August 2030, allows WWE to enter the next round of media rights negotiations earlier than the original March 2031 end date. As part of the transition, WWE reduced the amount Peacock would have paid in exchange for the early departure of its main PLEs.
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While the main roster’s major events are moving, Peacock will continue to be the streaming home for NXT’s premium live events and WWE’s extensive archival library.
The immediate impact on the upcoming schedule has also been confirmed. The final two ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’ broadcasts of the year are scheduled for:
- November 1 in Salt Lake City
- December 13 in Boston (John Cena’s retirement show)
Furthermore, WWE announced that both Crown Jewel on October 11 and Survivor Series on November 29 will stream exclusively on the ESPN app for U.S. viewers.
An interesting detail from the negotiations reveals WWE had pushed for Cena’s special to air on December 27, a move that would have placed it in direct competition with AEW’s Worlds End, but NBC declined the date. Looking forward, ESPN is reportedly considering a strategy to simulcast portions of events on its linear channels before funneling fans to the app for the main matches.
The new domestic agreement with ESPN does not affect WWE’s international distribution, where Netflix continues to hold the rights to the company’s programming.
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