WWE’s WrestlePalooza was meant to be the crown jewel of its new $1.6 billion deal with ESPN, but fans were left frustrated after technical problems shut many of them out. What’s interesting is that ESPN actually addressed concerns about access before the premium live event even aired.
Speaking on a conference call ahead of WrestlePalooza, ESPN SVP/DTC John Lasker admitted that not all subscribers would be able to access ESPN Unlimited, the tier required to stream WWE events.
“We’re not 100% there today, but over the next couple of months, the vast majority of folks that are subscribed to ESPN through an MVPD will have access to our ESPN Unlimited plan and then therefore have access to all the PLEs to come,” Lasker said.
At the time, he clarified that only Spectrum, DirecTV, FuboTV, Hulu Live TV, and Verizon Fios subscribers had access to ESPN Unlimited. Everyone else would have to wait until ESPN expanded availability “pretty much ubiquitous accessibility” in the coming months.
That warning turned out to be a red flag for what came next, as countless fans ran into login walls, tier confusion, and error screens on the night of WrestlePalooza. Even though ESPN built hours of pre-show programming and had SportsCenter broadcasting live from the venue, those efforts were drowned out by complaints from fans who couldn’t even get the stream to start.
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September 21, 2025 1:11 pm
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