Freddie Prinze Jr. is raising eyebrows with a claim about ESPN’s feelings toward its massive new WWE rights agreement.
On a recent episode of Wrestling With Freddie, the actor casually relayed that ESPN executives are not exactly thrilled with the deal, citing a conversation with a Disney employee.
“ESPN, by the way, is so unhappy with the deal,” Prinze Jr. said. “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.’ Like, he said they’re hot.”
The comment came during Prinze Jr.’s breakdown of last weekend’s Survivor Series: WarGames premium live event (PLE). While he didn’t specify why ESPN is unhappy, he hinted that internal performance expectations may be high.
Prinze Jr. also lightly encouraged fans to purchase more WWE events, joking that WWE’s shift from calling shows “pay-per-views” (PPVs) to “premium live events” could be confusing casual audiences. Since WWE programming moved to ESPN platforms, neither the company nor the network has publicly released viewership figures.
Prinze Jr.’s comments carry weight in wrestling circles because of his prior involvement with WWE behind the scenes. From 2008 to 2009, he worked on the WWE creative team as a writer during a pivotal period for the company.
Since then, he has remained closely connected to the industry, hosting podcasts, covering events, and maintaining relationships across wrestling and entertainment.
The remarks land against the backdrop of WWE’s blockbuster agreement with ESPN and Disney. Earlier this year, ESPN reached a five-year deal valued at more than $1.6 billion, or roughly $325 million per year, beginning in 2026.
The agreement gives ESPN exclusive U.S. streaming rights to many of WWE’s biggest events, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam. These events are expected to air on ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service, which is set to debut this fall at a monthly price of $29.99, with select simulcasts on ESPN’s cable networks.
The ESPN deal followed WWE’s separate 10-year agreement with Netflix for Raw, reportedly worth more than $5 billion.
