WrestleMania simulcasts on ESPN nets ~1.7M viewers in linear windows

WrestleMania 42 drew an average of 1.72 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2's Saturday and Sunday simulcasts, not including ESPN Unlimited where the full show streamed. ESPN2’s opening-hour Saturday drew 1.62 million, while Sunday’s first hour on ESPN attracted 1.82 million, with pre-shows of about 0.676–0.750 million. While the linear numbers exceed a typical SmackDown, the true impact hinges on ESPN Unlimited subscriptions driven by WrestleMania, under ESPN’s $325 million-per-year deal for Premium Live Events and the streaming service’s goal of attracting non-pay-TV viewers.