Per a report from Brandon Thurston at Wrestlenomics, ESPN filed a memorandum asking the court to let them intervene in the class action lawsuit against WWE that two consumers filed back in January.
That suit accuses WWE of deceptive marketing advertising by ESPN that its subscribers would have access to all premium live events without additional cost if they had ESPN as part of their TV package. When the suit was filed, ESPN was not named as a defendant in the case. ESPN is now asking the court to move the lawsuit to arbitration.
When the 5-year, $1.6 billion deal was first announced last summer, it was stated by ESPN, that they expected to sign deals with all cable and streaming providers, thus allowing those consumers to have access to ESPN Unlimited with no additional cost.
There still are consumers, such as those who subscribe to YouTube TV, who do not have access to ESPN Unlimited and must pay $29.99 per month or $299 per year for it. There have been reports that YouTube TV customers will have access to Unlimited by the fall of this year.
Those who subscribe to Hulu+Live TV, Spectrum, Verizon Fios, DirectTV and Fubo TV do are not applicable to the suit, as the plaintiffs are only representing those between August 6 and September 20, 2025, as those subscribers had access to Unlimited basically from the start.
Last month, just days before Elimination Chamber, Xfinity customers who have ESPN as part of their cable TV package were given access to Unlimited with no extra cost.