How many subscribers did ESPN gain after WWE Wrestlepalooza - Report

The all-new ESPN app was launched on August 21.

On September 20, with the Wrestlepalooza PLE, ESPN became the exclusive home for WWE PLEs in the United States. The event took place on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, and ushered in the new era of WWE PLEs on ESPN.

The move, which was earlier planned for 2026, was then moved to September with the inaugural Wrestleplaooza PLE. The deal, which costs $325 million per year, is expected to boost ESPN’s subscriber base. A new report has now revealed the subscriber numbers following the addition.

WWE brought in 175,000 subscribers during the Wrestlepalooza weekend

Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio reported that the ESPN App has gained 2.1 million subscribers within the first month of its launch. Meltzer also noted that the app added 175,000 subscribers during the Wrestlepalooza weekend last month.

In the weekend leading up to the event, the platform gained 80,000 new subscribers, followed by another 50,000 the weekend after WrestlePalooza.

Meltzer pointed out that the fourth weekend after the app’s launch actually saw more new sign-ups than the third, indicating that WWE’s PLEs had a clear positive effect on the App’s subscriber growth. He estimated that between 95,000 and 125,000 people subscribed that weekend specifically for WWE-related content.

Meltzer further explained that the $325 million-per-year WWE deal doesn’t draw its value from ESPN’s existing 30 million traditional cable or satellite subscribers, revenue the network would have earned regardless, but rather from new subscribers who sign up and stay on the app long-term, ideally around a year, primarily because of WWE’s massive events.

ESPN is currently operating at a loss, despite heavy investments

Meltzer also estimated that if viewership on the ESPN App remains steady in the coming months, the WWE deal could be worth around $35 million annually.

Although companies like ESPN are investing heavily in streaming, Meltzer noted they are currently operating at a loss with these recent efforts. ESPN entered the WWE agreement hoping to draw up to 50 million subscribers, each paying about $30 per month for the Unlimited tier.

Meltzer further added that the revenue the Stamford-based promotion earns from the ESPN App is far less than what the company paid for the rights to stream WWE premium live events. Still, he believes WWE’s PLEs are likely more valuable than the UFC’s $1.1 billion streaming deal with Paramount+, which he expects will also result in a substantial loss.

He concluded that while striking lucrative streaming deals is advantageous for organizations like WWE and other sports leagues to secure partnerships, the streaming platforms themselves are facing significant financial losses under this model.

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