ESPN President Burke Magnus is giving WWE high marks as the two companies continue to expand their new broadcast partnership. With major Premium Live Events already airing on the network and the road to WrestleMania underway, Magnus made it clear that ESPN is thrilled with the relationship so far.
Appearing on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast, Magnus praised WWE President Nick Khan and the entire WWE executive team, noting that while ESPN had worked with WWE in smaller ways in prior years, the collaboration has reached an entirely new level in 2025.
“It’s gone great so far,” Magnus said. “We’re very familiar with Nick Khan and the team over there. We’ve had engagement with them for years in much smaller ways. They are fantastic to work with. They really hustle on behalf of their property. Those appearances don’t just happen unless you have a league to make those people available. The superstars are highly engaged in promoting themselves, the broader WWE, and their stories. It’s been really good so far.”
Magnus highlighted the early Premium Live Events that have aired on ESPN, including an off-hour show from the Middle East and the debut of Wrestlepalooza. With Survivor Series: WarGames taking place this weekend in San Diego, Magnus said the show will be a key benchmark for ESPN as they gear up for their first-ever WrestleMania broadcast.
“We’re looking forward to WrestleMania this year, which would be our first,” Magnus said. “We’ve had two PLEs to date, one was in the Middle East, so it was on an off-hour. Wrestlepalooza was new. Survivor Series this weekend is going to be a really good measuring stick for how it’s going. In terms of the interaction between the team at WWE and us, it’s been great.”
The comments are the strongest indication yet that ESPN views WWE as a long-term, high-value partner—one whose talent, production, and leadership have exceeded expectations. With Survivor Series and then WrestleMania on the horizon, the ESPN–WWE alliance appears to be gaining momentum at exactly the right time.
