ESPN Motions To Compel Arbitration In WWE PLE Suit

Posted by admin on March 28th, 2026

A consumer uses his remote to find the ESPN channel

Anna Quelhas/Shutterstock

ESPN, the home of WWE’s premium live events (PLEs) since September of 2025, is now entering the court ring. According to Brandon Thurston, who first reported this on his X account [formerly known as Twitter] on Friday, said the sports network filed a memorandum, asking the court to let them intervene in this class-action lawsuit that was first filed in January.

ESPN has moved to intervene in the class action lawsuit against WWE over access to PLEs. ESPN wants to compel arbitration.

Plaintiffs did not name ESPN as a defendant, apparently to get around the arbitration clause in the subscriber agreement. https://t.co/qm0UtJ4huN pic.twitter.com/Jer3nKcglp

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) March 28, 2026

To summarize, in January, two consumers accused WWE of deceptive marketing, as it was advertised that ESPN subscribers would receive access to the PLEs without additional fees. When filed by the plaintiffs, WWE was named as the defendant, but not ESPN, which Thurston noted in his post: “Plaintiffs did not name ESPN as a defendant, apparently to get around the arbitration clause in the subscriber agreement.” That said, ESPN is asking the court to move the lawsuit to arbitration.

When WWE’s Wrestlepalooza premiered on ESPN last fall, ESPN stated back then that it expected to sign deals with all cable and streaming providers (with a working partnership) to obtain ESPN Unlimited at no additional cost eventually. But, as many have witnessed up until now, that is not the case, as consumers without a television or streaming platform provider linked to ESPN Unlimited must pay $30 a month for the subscription.

As of this writing, there is still an open window for representation, as the plaintiffs in this matter are willing to help other customers affected by this misleading marketing. The caveat is that you must have been an existing ESPN subscriber between August 6 and prior to Wrestlepalooza on September 20, and or those who paid for the service during that timeframe. Those who do not apply to this lawsuit are those who are or were subscribed to Hulu + Live, Spectrum, Verizon FIOS, DirectTV, and Fubo TV, as customers with these subscriptions were able to access the service for free during that time.