ESPN Responds To Claims Its WWE Deal Hasn't Pulled In As Many Subscribers As It Hoped

That's according to Dave Meltzer, who noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Wrestlepalooza, the first WWE PLE to air live on ESPN since the move, brought in between 100,000 and 125,000 new subscribers. While that might sound like a lot of people, it's a little more than $3 million. That becomes $36 million in a year if that pace is kept up for a deal that has cost ESPN $325 million.

ESPN has already responded to those comments in a retort shared by DAZN reporter Steven Muehlhausen. While the platform isn't prepared to share actual numbers, a representative from ESPN has claimed, "Things are going well and we have started strong," despite reports to the contrary.

How Much It Cost ESPN For The Rights To WWE PLEs

ESPN paid WWE $1.6 billion for the streaming rights for its PLEs in the US for the next five years. That equates to ESPN needing to pull in 900,000 new subscribers who are hopping aboard for WWE content each and every month for those five years. If Meltzer's Wrestlepalooza numbers are even close to accurate, then despite what ESPN claims, it isn't coming close to hitting those targets out of the gate.

What's even more worrying for ESPN is that you'd expect an influx of WWE fans to sign up for its service right away. I can't imagine there's any way of knowing for sure who signed up specifically for Wrestlepalooza beyond when they subscribed and whether they watched the PLE or not, so there's every chance a lot more people than you might think signed up to ESPN for WWE programming.

Not to mention money from those who might have considered leaving but decided to stick around upon hearing the news that WWE content was arriving on the platform.

It's also worth taking into account that the ESPN deal has begun at what is typically the quietest period of the year for WWE. The real test will be how many people sign up so that they can watch the Royal Rumble and then WrestleMania. On the flip side of that, keeping those subscribers paying $29.99 per month once WrestleMania season is over will be incredibly difficult.