WWE and ESPN representatives have reacted to Freddie Prinze Jr.‘s comments.
The two media juggernauts entered into a multi-million, multi-year partnership earlier this year. Paving the way for WWE Premium Live Events to stream on the ESPN+ app. The deal was initially set to begin in 2026, but it launched early with the debut of Wrestlepalooza in September.
Speaking on his Wrestling with Freddie podcast, former WWE writer and producer Freddie Prinze Jr. claimed a friend who works for Disney told him that ESPN is unhappy with its current deal with the sports entertainment juggernaut.
“ESPN, by the way, so unhappy with the deal,” Freddie Prinze Jr. said. “I was talking to a friend of mine who works for Disney, and he was just like, ‘Yo, they better make their money back on this deal.’ He just said, ‘They’re hot.’” [H/T: Fightful]
According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp (via Fightful Select), an ESPN representative said, “they haven’t heard that chatter, and have enjoyed working with WWE.” The report further stated that WWE’s side noted “no one in WWE upper management is aware of Freddie Prinze’s role in wrestling or otherwise.”
WWE is thrilled with the new ESPN deal
Last month, during the TKO Q3 earnings call, WWE President Nick Khan expressed how thrilled the company is with the new ESPN deal.
“By the way, we’re thrilled with the start of it,” Nick Khan said. “So it’s obviously a new product, it’s a new platform. If you notice any of the promotion going into our first event with them, Wrestlepalooza, which is a new event for us, which we’re really pleased with.
“You saw wall-to-wall coverage on all ESPN platforms. So much so that on College Game Day, the morning of WrestlePalooza, you had the entire panel. Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Rece Davis all predicting the winner of Brock Lesnar versus John Cena. It was phenomenal.
“It’s going to take time for ESPN to grow that platform the way that they want to grow it. We’re patient. We’ll continue to put on our product the way that we think only we can do. Let’s see where we end up.”
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