WWE’s business relationship with ESPN just got a little more complicated, and Stephanie McMahon is at the center of it.
Late last month, WWE locked in a five-year deal with ESPN valued at roughly $1.6 billion, bringing the company’s marquee events—including WrestleMania and SummerSlam—to ESPN’s soon-to-launch streaming platform in the United States. It was a significant move that positioned WWE as a tentpole property for Disney’s sports giant.
Additionally, select programming will also appear on ESPN’s linear channels via simulcasts, bringing WWE to both cord-cutters and traditional cable viewers. The agreement marks a significant step up from WWE’s current five-year arrangement with Peacock, which was valued at about $900 million.
But even before the ink had fully dried on that contract, McMahon raised eyebrows with an ad read on her podcast, What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon.
According to Yahoo Sports, in the episode, she promoted Surfshark VPN, directly telling listeners they could use the service to access the full catalog of WWE content on Netflix—programming that, in the U.S., is otherwise restricted by rights agreements.
The timing didn’t sit well with some at ESPN. According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, at least one source inside the network admitted they “weren’t thrilled” with McMahon encouraging fans to bypass U.S. licensing through a VPN. That said, insiders also suggested it’s unlikely to escalate into a deal-breaking issue.
For now, WWE content in America is split: Monday Night Raw streams on Netflix, but premium live events—starting in 2026—will sit behind ESPN’s upcoming $29.99 per month platform. International fans, meanwhile, still have access to the complete WWE package on Netflix.
Industry watchers note that the controversy may be less about McMahon herself and more about whoever approved the Surfshark spot.
Whether that was WWE, Fanatics, or McMahon’s podcast team, the optics were awkward: one of WWE’s most prominent figures effectively telling fans how to sidestep a billion-dollar partner’s paywall.