HARTFORD, Conn. – Professional wrestling fans are upset with the WWE’s move to ESPN and are suing over what they call an “outlandish money-grab.”
World Wrestling Entertainment told the public that future premium live events wouldn’t cost more when their broadcasts transitioned from Peacock to ESPN, the Jan. 8 lawsuit says. But Peacock is only $11 a month and ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service is $30, plaintiffs hoping to pursue a class action complain.
And even those with ESPN logins from cable or elsewhere still have to pay extra to view PLEs, they say.
“As consumers learned when they tried to sign up for the new DTC service – many on the eve of the first WWE PLE to stream on the service – WWE’s (and ESPN’s) material representations, which were likely to (and did) mislead consumers, simply were not true,” the suit says.
“They were a ‘bait and switch’: The majority of consumers who already had subscribed to ESPN in another manner and expected to receive access to the new service for free instead were required to pay in full for it.”
Multiple public statements are cited as support for the claim WWE violated Connecticut consumer protection law. A press release in August promised more choices and access on the ESPN app for customers “whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package.”
Attorneys at Scott+Scott and Lynch Carpenter are pursuing the case. They did not name ESPN as a defendant, though they called its actions illegal.
“WWE and ESPN formed a combination and joined together (i.e., conspired) to do and perform an unlawful act – i.e., an act contrary to law,” the suit says.
“As did ESPN, WWE performed numerous overt acts pursuant to the scheme and/or in furtherance of the objective thereof, including, but not limited to, issuing the joint press releases, promoting the new ESPN DTC service, and scheduling Wrestlepalooza.”
