Wrestlemania XL Is Most-Streamed Entertainment Event in Peacock History, But Will Netflix Steal WWE Premium Live Events?
Peacock’s deal with WWE for events like Wrestlemania expires in 2026, and Netflix or another streamer could snatch them up.
The hype of The Rock’s return and Cody Rhodes finishing the story delivered for WWE over the weekend. The annual Wrestlemania extravaganza is always a big audience draw — both in person and on TV — and this year’s Wrestlemania XL demonstrated the event’s popularity once again by drawing the biggest ratings of any live entertainment program in the history of Peacock. The numbers are impressive, but they do bring the question of what will happen to live WWE events after 2026 to mind, as the wrestling promotion’s deal with Peacock expires.
- Wrestlemania saw 1.3 billion total minutes streamed across both nights on Peacock.
- WWE’s YouTube channel drew a record-setting 67 million+ views on Sunday, April 7.
- Netflix recently acquired rights to WWE’s “Raw,” and could make a play for events like Wrestlemania next.
Peacock has not broken out how many individual accounts watched Wrestlemania XL, nor has it revealed how many new subscribers signed up to watch the event, but it did reveal that across Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, the 40th edition of Wrestlemania was streamed for more than 1.3 billion minutes, making it the most-streamed live entertainment event in the service’s history.
The two-day event combined to become Peacock’s second-highest weekend of usage ever, second only to the Jan. 13-14 weekend when it hosted an exclusive NFL Wild Card game for the first time. That was the most-streamed live event in Peacock’s history, and brought 3 million new subscribers to the platform.
Wrestlemania’s year-over-year gains for Peacock were nearly as impressive. Saturday’s average audience was 26% larger than the first-day coverage of Wrestlemania 39 in 2023, and Sunday’s audience was 30% bigger than the Day 2 viewership last year. The WWE YouTube channel also set records on Sunday, seeing more than 67 million views in 24 hours to become the most-viewed day in the channel’s history.
With the company’s creative decisions now being made by chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque following the ouster of his father-in-law Vince McMahon, Wrestlemania XL is being hailed by many as the best Wrestlemania in the company’s history. If the 14-time world champion can continue delivering products and events that get fans excited, it could lead to an even bigger rights deal for WWE’s new parent company Endeavor.
Will Peacock See Live WWE Events Snatched Away?
Fans were ecstatic to see old faces like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and The Undertaker onstage at Wrestlemania XL, as Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns and took the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship that Reigns held for nearly four full years. The data shows that Peacock clearly prospered from its position as host of the event, but it may not continue to carry WWE’s premium live events for much longer.
Peacock’s deal to be the exclusive domestic home of Wrestlemania, Summer Slam, The Royal Rumble, and other premium live events from WWE expires in March 2026, and as of now, it looks as if it could have stiff competition to keep them at that point. Netflix surprised the world in January when it acquired the rights to “WWE Raw” in a 10-year deal worth $5 billion.
As the world’s most profitable streaming service, Netflix is in an enviable position as far as its ability to bid on live sports. There’s a high probability it could outbid Peacock for the rights to WWE’s premium live events, bringing more of the sports entertainment promotion’s rights under its auspices. WWE might want to avoid that eventuality, as splitting sports rights among multiple partners usually instigates higher bids for the assets when they become available. Episodes of “SmackDown” will begin airing on USA Network this fall, leaving their former home of Fox behind. USA is a corporate sibling of Peacock’s as they both fall under the umbrella of NBCUniversal.
Netflix is the most obvious potential competition for WWE premium live events, but there could be others — perhaps Prime Video — waiting in the wings to make a titanic bid. Peacock’s continuing success in driving large audiences to Wrestlemania will be a sure sign to other providers that WWE events could be of great benefit if they snagged the rights for themselves.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.