ESPN and its streaming technology subsidiary BAMTech have officially been added as defendants in the ongoing class action lawsuit concerning WWE’s move to ESPN Unlimited.
The U.S. District Court in Connecticut granted ESPN and BAMTech’s motion to intervene on September 18, formally adding both companies to the lawsuit originally filed against WWE by Michael Diesa and Rebecca Toback.
The case alleges that WWE’s promotion of its agreement with ESPN misled some customers into believing they would be able to watch WWE premium live events through their existing ESPN cable or streaming subscriptions without paying an additional fee.
When WWE programming moved to the service beginning with WrestlePalooza 2025, some television providers had agreements allowing their subscribers to authenticate through the ESPN app and access the programming.
Customers using other providers, however, were required to separately subscribe to ESPN’s $29.99-per-month streaming service.
ESPN and BAMTech have argued that the dispute should be resolved through arbitration rather than litigation in court because the plaintiffs subscribed to ESPN Unlimited and, in doing so, agreed to Disney and ESPN’s terms of service. WWE has raised a similar arbitration argument.
With ESPN and BAMTech now formally participating in the case, whether the dispute should be compelled to arbitration is expected to become a significant issue before the court.
The proposed class covers certain customers in the United States who paid for access to the ESPN app between August 6 and September 20, 2025, despite already paying for ESPN through a cable provider or live television streaming service.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages and other relief and have requested a jury trial.
The allegations remain subject to litigation, and the court has not determined that WWE, ESPN or BAMTech misled customers.
