This year’s WrestleMania 42 was the first since ESPN agreed to pay WWE $1 billion over five years for domestic rights to broadcast premium live events. The bulk of WrestleMania 42’s two nights were on the new ESPN Unlimited streaming platform, but the first hour of each show aired on cable television in an attempt to lure viewers to sign-up for the new service to get the remainder of Saturday and Sunday’s cards.
With April 18’s 6-7 p.m. Eastern hour on ESPN2 and April 19’s on ESPN, Neilsen and others
will be reporting on the number and demographics of its television audience. Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel was first with them, reporting today (April 22) that WrestleMania Saturday had 1.62 million viewers on on ESPN2, then night WrestleMania Sunday on ESPN drew 1.82 million viewers.
WWE’s WrestleMania 42 press release from earlier today didn’t include numbers, but touted both as big successes:
WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the year on ESPN2, while WrestleMania Sunday was the most-viewed telecast of the entire weekend on ESPN.
And Glasspiegel’s assessment was similarly positive:
This is a pretty good number for WWE/ESPN all things considered.
1) Up against NBA/NHL playoffs
2) It doesn’t count the viewers on the app. The hardcore viewers would all be watching there so they don’t have to switch over when simulcast ends.The key numbers, which we don’t know, are a) how many people watched on the app each night and b) how many ESPN Unlimited signups did WrestleMania drive?
This is probably a good time to remind you that WWE and Front Office Sports agreed to a “dynamic content partnership” last year, but Glasspiegel’s points are all valid. Regarding competition, full weekend ratings aren’t out. However, SportsMediaWatch says last weekend was the best-ever for the NHL Playoffs:
The opening weekend of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.53 million viewers across ESPN and TNT Sports (seven telecasts), up 81% from last year (five telecasts) and the highest average on record.
A man who’s used to debating ratings and all things wrestling online is questioning them — specifically how good the Sunday one is versus expectations. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer posted this along with Glasspiegel’s numbers:
Saturday was very good for ESPN 2. Sunday was disappointing as I saw predictions inside busienss as high as 3 million for Sunday since it was on ESPN 1. This doesn’t include viewership on the ESPN Unlimited app. As pointed out, the comparison to the UFC on CBS recently was not favorable at all, but CBS is in far more homes and was in a better time slot, but Paramount+ is tons larger than ESPN Unlimited.
Regarding those UFC numbers, SportsMediaWatch reports: “The UFC on CBS is now averaging 2.56 million viewers across two telecast windows.”
There will undoubtedly be much debate about how to interpret these numbers — including in the comments below*. That’s always true with WWE, but the scrutiny will be turned up in the industry because of whispers about buyer’s remorse on ESPN’s part about the deal, and continued signs of tension between the two partners — not to mention criticism of the event’s overall presentation.
Stay tuned.
* Please, be respectful and keep it civil… or else.
