According to a report from POST Wrestling, a new class action lawsuit was filed Thursday night in the United States District Court in Connecticut that accuses WWE and ESPN of deceptive marketing practices. The suit pertains to WWE moving their premium live events (PLE’s) to ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service.
The report notes that the the complaint takes issue with how some those who already have ESPN channels through cable or other providers were still required to pay the additional fee of $29.99 per month to access WWE’s PLE events. The plaintiffs allege that this contradicts marketing communications from both WWE and ESPN, specifically noting in the suit, that all existing ESPN subscribers would have access to the WWE PLEs.
The lawsuit only names WWE as a defendant and not ESPN or it’s parent company – Disney. POST Wrestling also notes that by suing only WWE, the plaintiffs are trying to avoid going to arbitration and class action waiver provisions which are stated within Disney’s subscriber agreement.
When WWE moved it’s PLEs to the new ESPN app, some pay TV subscribers who get ESPN as part of their pay television service got access to the PLEs on the app, while other at the present time have not, as it depends on the various agreements ESPN’s parent Disney has with each pay TV provider. Some TV systems allow customers to authenticate into the app and view the PLEs, while others do not. Cox Cable announced on Thursday, that it’s pay TV customers now have access to the ESPN app and YouTube TV subscribers also can access the app as well.
POST Wrestling further adds the suit outlines the events pertaining to the August 6 press release that states features of the new app would “be available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package.” The lawsuit goes on to say that the statement indeed misled consumers. The plaintiffs also point out the fact there is similar messaging in ESPN’s press materials that note, “all fans who subscribe to ESPN” through either the app or traditional pay TV means would have access when watching WWE PLEs on the ESPN app.
In addition, the complaint also cites WWE President Nick Khan commenting on an August episode of the Varsity podcast, in which he said the following: “When we did the Peacock deal in 2020, same thing, no upcharge for what were pay-per-views,” Khan said to host John Ourand. “Same thing here with what has been referred to as ‘ESPN Flagship.’ You subscribe to that product, you get WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, all of our other premium live events, with no upcharge.”
The plaintiffs allege Khan’s comment misled customers who already have access to ESPN channels into believing they would not need to pay any extra fees to watch the PLEs.