Executives from ESPN have stated that the network is open to the possibility of adding more WWE Premium Live Events to its broadcast calendar in the future. The comments were made during a media call on September 17, held to promote the upcoming WWE Wrestlepalooza event, which marks the beginning of a major five-year deal between the two companies. The new partnership will see all of WWE's PLEs move to ESPN's new direct-to-consumer streaming service, marking a significant shift in how fans will access WWE's biggest shows.
During the call, ESPN executives Matt Kenny and J.T. Lasker were asked by WrestleZone’s Bill Pritchard about the potential for expanding the current PLE schedule. Pritchard noted that WWE has a Saturday Night’s Main Event special scheduled for Peacock in December, which is not a full-fledged PLE, and asked if ESPN would be interested in placing a premium event in a similar open slot. Matt Kenny, ESPN's Programming and Acquisitions Lead, responded by confirming that while they are happy with the current schedule, the door is open for future discussions with WWE about evolving their event calendar.
“Yeah, I think anything along those lines will bear itself out in just more forward-looking scheduling conversations that we’ll get into with the WWE over time," Kenny said. "But I think just to put a fine point on that answer, we knew what we were signing up for when we acquired the PLEs. The PLEs are incredibly invaluable and we understand the importance of those shows to help fuel our direct-to-consumer business so, we’re excited about the schedule of events that WWE puts forth for the PLEs, and if there’s conversations to be had about evolving that, then we’re certainly game to doing that”.
The current WWE premium live event schedule has largely settled into a rhythm of one major event per month, with occasional international shows added throughout the year. The structure was established during the company's time with Peacock and Netflix, which allowed for an increase in the number of events compared to the traditional pay-per-view model.
As of the media call, the remainder of WWE's 2025 premium live event schedule is set. Following Wrestlepalooza on September 20, the company will head to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for WWE Crown Jewel on Saturday, October 25. The final PLE event of the year will be WWE Survivor Series, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 29 in Chicago, Illinois before WWE wraps things up with Saturday Night's Main Event in December.
