According to PWInsider.com, a hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 10 AM ET in the U.S. District Court in Connecticut regarding a lawsuit filed against WWE. This lawsuit, initiated in January, accuses the company of misleading fans about how their Premium Live Events (PLEs) were advertised on ESPN Unlimited.
The hearing will address motions filed by ESPN and its subsidiary, BAMTech, which is responsible for ESPN Unlimited’s streaming technology. These motions seek to intervene in the lawsuit, arguing that it should be moved to arbitration. They claim that the plaintiffs, having subscribed to ESPN Unlimited, are bound by the terms of service, which include arbitration clauses stipulated by Disney and ESPN.
The lawsuit was filed by Michael Diesa and Rebecca Tobak. It argues that WWE’s statements suggesting that “subscribers” would receive PLEs at no additional charge misled fans into believing that all ESPN subscribers would benefit from this offer. In reality, access to PLEs was limited to ESPN Unlimited subscribers, who must pay an additional fee. Diesa, who resides in New Jersey, is a cable customer paying over $100 per month for his package, which includes ESPN. Tobak, from New York, is a YouTube TV subscriber who paid $29.99 to access ESPN on the day of a WWE event and canceled his subscription the following day.
Notably, ESPN is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, a deliberate decision due to Disney’s existing subscriber agreements that mandate arbitration and prevent class actions. The plaintiffs have also requested a jury trial.
