WWE’s Wrestlepalooza premium live event is being credited as a key factor in driving early success for the newly launched ESPN–Fox Sports streaming bundle, according to industry analysts on the SBJ Sports Media Podcast featuring John Ourand (Puck News) and Andrew Marchand (The Athletic).
During the “Who’s Up, Who’s Down” segment, Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp highlighted the sports streaming package as his “Who’s Up,” pointing to a major surge in subscriptions surrounding the debut of WWE’s September event.
“We saw some of the initial numbers since that began… a lot of good reception. They launched it right before football season. You can see the spikes when NFL started, when college football started, and particularly late in September, when ESPN had its first PLE Wrestlepalooza. Really seeing a spike there in sign ups,” Karp explained.
The panel discussed how WWE’s monthly premium live events have become a cornerstone for streaming growth, driving engagement beyond traditional sports audiences. The inclusion of WWE programming on ESPN’s platform has reportedly strengthened the bundle’s overall market appeal.
Andrew Marchand expanded on the topic, emphasizing WWE’s growing influence in live sports negotiations — particularly as Disney (ESPN’s parent company) enters new carriage discussions with YouTube TV.
“I think there’s a lot of confidence that the… big deal is the wrestling events that, if you’re a YouTube person, you don’t just get the extra wrestling events. WWE, big spectaculars once a month and … I think that will be worked out, from what I understand,” Marchand said.
The success of Wrestlepalooza underscores WWE’s increasing impact on sports streaming trends. The next major WWE Premium Live Event on ESPN Unlimited will be Survivor Series, taking place November 29 in San Diego, California.
