ESPN Open To Bidding For WWE Media Rights
ESPN aren't shying away to a WWE partnership
WWE’s TV deals are coming up to be negotiated in the near future, and whilst ESPN has been opposed to the scripted nature of WWE in the past, recent collaboration indicates that this is no longer an issue, if there is a deal to be made, then ESPN could well be within the running.
The President of ESPN’s Content Burke Magnus was asked by Richard Deitsch on Sports Media about a potential partnership with WWE and bidding for their media rights, and he revealed that whilst the weekly product of WWE would be a hard thing to incorporate onto their programming, there might be other avenues that could go down for a deal.
“I’d say I believe our companies — and this changed a couple of years ago so this is not breaking news but I believe our point of view towards WWE as a potential distribution outlet for their events, I think we passed that a long time ago and I think we’re now in the bucket of, hey, if their rights are available and there’s a deal for us that works and a deal for them that works with us, I think it’s certainly a possibility. There’s no hesitation anymore from a brand perspective or from a live event versus scripted. Their fans and our viewers, there’s tremendous overlap so, to me, it’s just about the business of it and is there something that works…
“To their credit, they run a 52-week-a-year business, right?… And I’m thinking, well, let me start from the linear perspective. 52 weeks a year is impossible for us to do on almost any configuration based on the other rights that we have. So that actually cuts against us from a linear perspective but on the digital side, if we were to be in business with them on a streaming or direct-to-consumer or distribution or a pay-per-view distribution or other such thing, I think that’s more easily achievable and they have a great product.”
WWE’s current television future and negotiations with US broadcasters is unclear at present.
H/T POST Wrestling
