ESPN Gets Involved In Lawsuit Against WWE Over PLE Marketing Claims

A new legal twist has emerged involving WWE and a class-action lawsuit tied to ESPN’s streaming service.

According to Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling, ESPN is now attempting to formally enter the class-action lawsuit that was originally filed back in January.

The network reportedly submitted a memorandum on Friday requesting permission from the court to intervene in the case.

The lawsuit itself was brought by two consumers and centers around allegations of deceptive marketing. Specifically, the complaint claims WWE advertised that ESPN subscribers would receive access to premium live events at no additional cost—something the plaintiffs argue was not universally true.

Interestingly, WWE was initially named as a defendant in the suit, while ESPN was not.

“Plaintiffs did not name ESPN as a defendant, apparently to get around the arbitration clause in the subscriber agreement,” Thurston wrote.

That detail appears to be a key factor in ESPN’s latest move.

With its filing, ESPN is now pushing for the case to be moved out of court and into arbitration, citing the terms outlined in parent company Disney’s subscriber agreement. If granted, that shift could significantly change how the case proceeds.

Here’s where things get a bit more complicated.

At the time the WWE-ESPN deal was first announced, ESPN indicated that it expected to eventually secure agreements with all major cable and streaming providers. The goal was to allow consumers to access ESPN Unlimited without paying anything extra.

However, that rollout remains incomplete.

As of now, subscribers who do not have a participating provider still need to pay $30 per month for ESPN Unlimited, which sits at the heart of the plaintiffs’ argument.

The lawsuit aims to represent a specific group of consumers—those in the United States who were already ESPN subscribers between August 6 and the WWE Wrestlepalooza premium live event on September 20, as well as anyone who paid for the service during that window.

There are, however, notable exceptions.

Customers who subscribed through Hulu + Live TV, Spectrum, Verizon FIOS, DIRECTV, or FuboTV are excluded from the class, as those providers did offer access to the service at no additional cost during the timeframe in question.