Update On WWE Lawsuit Over PLEs On ESPN

A hearing is set for later this week in the lawsuit filed against WWE over their PLEs airing on ESN Unlimited. PWinsider reports that a hearing is set for Thursday at 10 AM ET before the .S. District Court in Connecticut in the case, which was filed in January and accuses the company of misleading fans in how they advertised PLEs on the service.

The report notes that the hearing will cover motions filed by ESPN and its company BAMTech, who are behind ESPN Unlimited’s streaming technology. The motions are asking to intervene in the lawsuit and say it should be moved to arbitration based on the plaintiffs having subscribed to ESPN Unlimited, which places them under the terms of service. WWE and the cable channel have both argued that since the plaintiffs subscribed to the service, their claims are subject to Disney and ESPN’s arbitration clause.

The lawsuit was filed by Michael Diesa and Rebecca Tobak. It argues that WWE’s statements that “subscribers” would get PLEs at no extra charge suggested that all ESPN subscribers would get such a deal, when access was in fact for ESPN Unlimited which requires an extra cost for a number of subscribers.

Diesa is from New Jersey and is a cable customer who paid over $100 per month for his cable package, which included ESPN. Toback is from New York and a YouTube TV subscriber. He paid $29.99 to access ESPN on the day of a WWE event, and then canceled the day after.

ESPN was not listed as a defendant, which was intentional as noted in the original lawsuit because Disney’s existing subscriber agreements require arbitration and block class actions. The plaintiffs have asked for a jury trial.