Ahead of Wrestlepalooza, ESPN Programming and Acquisitions Lead Matt Kenny and ESPN Senior Vice President JT Lasker took questions from the press to discuss their new WWE deal.
Asked about Wrestlepalooza falling on the same date as All Out and counter programming AEW, Kenny said that several dates were already booked beforehand and they have to deal with not just WWE, but other sports. They wanted to have a marquee WWE event this month to coincide with the launch of the ESPN DTC app so it had less to do wrestling competition but more with timing of the launch of the app.
The two confirmed that WWE will retain creative control of everything they will produce and they are just distributors for the show. On the other hand, ESPN will retain full control of what their journalists cover, even with WWE’s competition, calling it “separation of church and state.”
Asked about simulcasts, they said ESPN is contractually obligated to air a minimum number of WWE PLEs on linear television and they will have to strike a balance in what they will offer and how they will use their influence when it comes to simulcasts.
As for the WWE video library moving to ESPN in the future, Kenny said that he cannot talk about that and that’s a question that they would have to ask WWE.
“The rights that we have are for the Premium Live Events and those will be called bankable VOD, so as the events take place on our platforms, we’ll be able to offer those events on demand,” he said. “Our PLE library will build over time. But in terms of the broader library, I would direct your question to the WWE to handle.”
Colin Vassallo has been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996