ESPN Front Row is featuring an interview with ESPN Vice President, Editorial Director and Domestic Digital Content, Chad Millman, about opening a dedicated section of ESPN.com for coverage of WWE and “the world of professional wrestling.”
Here are a few highlights courtesy of Angela Yang’s interview.
The decision to launch a dedicated WWE section of ESPN.com:
“We’ve spent a lot of time the past several months thinking about how fans interact with sports, from what device they’re using to what tracks on social to what matters for a global audience. The way those factors intersect each other helped drive our thinking behind launching the gambling and eSports verticals over the past 24 months and pro wrestling fits in that circle, too. It is a subject that engages a really passionate audience, and we see a pop every time we cover it, from big events to news about wrestlers to in-depth stories examining controversies. Pro wrestling fans are sports fans.”
If covering WWE and pro wrestling on ESPN will cause any confusion:
“There is a clear distinction between the results of a WWE event and the sports that we cover. But from a personality perspective, many fans view wrestlers on the same plane as the most popular athletes, in those respects they do tie them together. And the worlds are already inextricably linked, from the athletes and coaches who appear ringside at events to John Cena hosting the ESPYs.”
ESPN launches new @WWEonESPN vertical today: https://t.co/JTjXzyonBO pic.twitter.com/VgKsyeCxGt
— ESPN Front Row (@ESPNFrontRow) August 11, 2016