WWE Rumors - Why Vince McMahon rejected mega WrestleMania deal with ESPN
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon holds total control of the goings-on in WWE, even at the age of 74. McMahon makes all the big decisions and even is backstage often to make key changes to the storylines.
To expand the WrestleMania brand, WWE were in discussions with global media giant ESPN, to have their world-renowned SportsCenter show during WrestleMania weekend, last year. Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated revealed details about this possible deal and why VInce McMahon cancelled discussions with ESPN:
"ESPN was in deep discussion with WWE last year about having a desk at WrestleMania and airing WrestleMania SportsCenter breaks all weekend, but the talks died the week before WrestleMania 35. A sticking point was McMahon did not want to reveal the behind-the-scenes aspects of WWE, including moments after the show, which makes sense because of the history of secrecy in pro wrestling. Of course, all that could have been acquired for an astronomical price, but the footage is far more valuable to WWE than it ever would be to ESPN."
It is quite surprising that the WWE Chairman withdrew from discussions on the basis of the "behind-the scenes aspects" as WWE have broken kayfabe thanks to their very well-produced WWE 24 and 365 shows on the WWE Network. Perhaps WWE feels that they want to control the kind of behind-the-scenes footage that the WWE Universe can watch.
The report gives further details about the potential deal between WWE and ESPN. As per the report, WrestleMania would have aired on ESPN+ like they do with the UFC in a "pay-per-service" deal. But, ESPN weren't keen on spending big money on an event that may not have happened due to the current situation in the world.
WWE management were also afraid of losing Network subscribers if a deal to air WrestleMania on ESPN had materialised. The report further adds that ESPN is keen to do business with WWE, which is good news for WWE during these trying times as it is yet another revenue source for them.
WWE and ESPN have a deal in place currently to air previous editions of WrestleMania on ESPN, ahead of WrestleMania 36. It was revealed recently that WWE's idea to offer WrestleMania for free to WWE Network subscribers was not an idea that Vince McMahon endorsed, and that could change for next year's show.
Next year's WrestleMania will take place at the newly-constructed SoFi Stadium in California, which is set to open later this year.