WWE accused of deceptive marketing with ESPN launch in new class action lawsuit
The rollout of WWE premium live events on ESPN’s straight-to-consumer streaming platform this past September was not without its critics — a rollout that has now brought about a class action lawsuit.
First reported by Post Wrestling and Brandon Thurston on Friday, the lawsuit filed Thursday in Connecticut’s U.S. District Court accuses WWE of being deceptive in their marketing of the new union when claiming all ESPN subscribers would have access to WWE PLEs without an additional fee.
Only WWE is named in the lawsuit and not ESPN. The reason, Thurston surmised, was that “By only suing WWE, the plaintiffs are trying to avoid the arbitration and class action waiver provisions that they note are in Disney’s subscriber agreement.”
ESPN (Disney) has previously stated they expect to eventually sign deals with all cable/streaming adjacent providers that carry ESPN which would give subscribers access to their new streaming platform at no additional cost. TKO head Mark Shapiro has also stated that is their expectation as well.
As of this writing, that is not the case with several major providers, meaning those subscribers must pay $30/month for access to the ESPN streaming platform and the WWE PLEs.
The plaintiffs are looking to represent any U.S.-based customers who a) were existing ESPN subscribers between August 6 prior to September 20’s Wrestlepalooza and b) paid for ESPN’s new service in that timeframe. Those who are subscribers of DirecTV, Fubo TV, Hulu + Live TV, Spectrum and Verizon FIOS are ineligible for the lawsuit due to their ability to both authenticate and get access in that timeframe.
The lawsuit, brought about by two consumers, claims more than $5 million are at stake with eligible consumers getting a cut if they win the case. In the suit, it was estimated that “WWE content drove roughly 95,000 to 125,000 signups during the proposed class period.”
The next step is for WWE to respond legally.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.