Could the television rights to WWE programming land on ESPN in the future? It certainly seems like a strong possibility.
ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus was a recent guest on Sports Media with Richard Deitsch. When asked about the possibility of bringing weekly WWE programming to ESPN, Magnus said they would be open to that if the rights were available.
“It wouldn’t be a pod with you without a WWE question, so I do appreciate that,” Burke Magnus said. “By the way, I’m overdue, I’m overdue to go to an event. I haven’t been in a little while but… yes, yes (he jokingly responded when it was mentioned that Nick Khan could get him tickets).
“I think it continues to be — I guess from a glass-half-full perspective, 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.
ESPN no longer has any hesitation regarding the WWE product from a brand perspective
“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. I may have said this to you last time we talked but, 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… Well, I’m not (talking to WWE). So, I’ll just leave it at that.” [H/T: POST Wrestling]
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What do you make of these comments? Could you imagine weekly WWE programming airing on ESPN? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
