Freddie Prince Jr. Claims ESPN is “So Unhappy” with WWE Deal, Backstage Reaction in ESPN & WWE Over Prince Jr.’s Claims

As noted before, WWE had signed a new media rights deal with ESPN this past August to broadcast their Premium Live Events (PLEs) on ESPN’s new streaming service in the United States. This deal was originally planned to start in 2026 but was pushed ahead to start this past September with WWE holding Wrestlepalooza as the first PLE on ESPN’s new streaming service instead.

A recent episode of the Wrestling With Freddie podcast featured host and former WWE writer Freddie Prince Jr. claiming that a friend at ESPN’s parent company Disney had told him that ESPN is currently not happy with the deal they had recently signed with WWE.

“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.’ Like, he said they’re hot.

Guys, we need to buy more PLEs.”

Fightful Select reported that their sources within ESPN and WWE denied the claims made by Prince Jr. One source spoken to with connections to both companies reportedly stated that no such frustration has been communicated internally.

One ESPN representative spoken to reportedly stated that they have “enjoyed working with WWE thus far” and have no heard of any chatter reflecting Prince Jr.’s claims.

One WWE high-level official spoken to reportedly stated that “no one in WWE upper management is aware of Freddie Prinze’s role in wrestling or otherwise.

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com