Is ESPN already sweating its massive $1.625 billion WWE deal? That’s what actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. claims. While WWE and ESPN publicly seem all smiles, especially with WrestleMania 42 on the horizon, Prinze Jr. just dropped a fiery update on his Wrestling with Freddie podcast — and it paints a very different picture.
The deal, which launched in September 2025 with WrestlePalooza as the first Premium Live Event on ESPN’s new streaming platform, was supposed to be a huge win for both sides. But according to Freddie, ESPN might already be regretting the price tag.
On his podcast, Prinze Jr. revealed what he heard from someone close to the situation:
“ESPN, by the way, is so unhappy with the deal. I was talking to a friend of mine who works for Disney, and he was just like, ‘Yo, they’re so—they better make their money back on this deal.’ He just said, ‘They’re hot.’”
He didn’t stop there. Prinze also took a shot at WWE’s current PLE branding, suggesting it might be confusing the audience:
“But anyway, guys, we gotta buy more PLEs. Just call it a pay-per-view—people would remember that, and they would buy them… maybe.”
This comes after ESPN President Burke Magnus appeared on the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina and praised the relationship. Magnus said things were going smoothly so far and pointed to WWE’s energy and promotional hustle as a strong point of the partnership:
“It’s gone great so far. We’re very familiar with Nick Khan and the team over there. We’ve had engagement with them for years in much smaller ways… The superstars are highly engaged in promoting themselves, the broader WWE, and their stories.”
He added that events like Survivor Series and WrestleMania 42 will be key indicators of long-term success:
“Survivor Series this weekend is going to be a really good measuring stick for how it’s going. In terms of the interaction between the team at WWE and us, it’s been great.”
So what’s the real story? Are things as strong as Magnus suggests, or is there real concern behind the scenes at ESPN and Disney? If Freddie’s source is accurate, the pressure is on to deliver massive returns — fast.
With WrestleMania 42 looming and the ESPN streaming platform still trying to prove itself in the wrestling space, this partnership may be facing its biggest test yet.
Do you think ESPN overpaid for WWE’s streaming rights? Will the deal pay off, or is there trouble ahead? Drop your thoughts in the comments — we want to hear what you think about this billion-dollar gamble.
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