NBC Universal has agreed to a long-term deal that will give them exclusive streaming rights, in the United States, to WWE Network, according to Variety.
For those of you who are already subscribers to WWE Network, members will be migrated over to Peacock Premium where you will get full access to WWE Network content, but will be charged 50% less per month while also getting the Peacock Premium tier service with ads.
The WWE Network will officially launch on Peacock on March 18th, 2021, and will see a influx of over 17,000 hours of WWE content in the form of new, original, and library programming which includes on-demand and a 24-hour channel.
Additionally, WWE’s marquee events will be streamed at no additional charge, meaning you will have access to the annual WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Summer Slam, and Survivor Series events, to name a few, and will officially begin with WWE Fastlane on March 21st.
WWE Network will be available on Peacock Premium (which includes ads) for $4.99 per month, which is half of the $9.99/month cost. If you want no commercials, then there is the Peacock Premium Plus plan, which costs $9.99/month, also will include WWE Network.
The companies plans to share details of how existing WWE Network subscribers in the U.S. will be switched to Peacock within the next few weeks.
“We feel great about the financials. Otherwise we wouldn’t have done the deal,” Nick Khan, WWE’s president and chief revenue officer said. “To have WrestleMania in particular — which is our Super Bowl — available [for no extra cost] on Peacock is quite different from other models you’re seeing.”
WWE Network is “a transformative addition,” said Rick Cordella, Peacock’s EVP and chief revenue officer. “We have a lot of data that shows live events and sports drives a lot of user acquisition,” he said. “The bet is that there exists a much larger total available audience [for WWE programming] than is on WWE Network today.”