WWE President Nick Khan has addressed some of the fan complaints surrounding the company’s partnership with ESPN and access to Premium Live Events.
During an appearance on The Varsity with John Ourand (full episode below), Khan was asked about the backlash from fans who have encountered issues accessing WWE PLEs through ESPN Unlimited.
Khan acknowledged that WWE pays attention to legitimate criticism and will make changes when necessary.
“Those complaints, some of them we look at and say, ‘There is some truth to this. Let’s make a little adjustment to this or that.’”
At the same time, Khan stressed that companies cannot allow themselves to become overly reactive to everything being said by fans or consumers.
“For companies that read it, believe it, and react to it, it never ever works,” Khan said. “Even if you see some of these companies that took some of these far right or far left positions, that’s not what most people are looking for.”
Khan continued by saying companies need to trust the people they have put in place to make decisions, specifically praising Paul “Triple H” Levesque and WWE’s other departments.
“Most people are looking for left center, right center, they are looking for the same thing in the sports space. You can’t be reactive to that sort of thing.”
“You have to rely on your team to know we have the best creative in terms of all of wrestling in Triple H, the best live events team, the best merchandise and consumer products team.”
Khan also pointed to the continued growth of TKO’s various properties as evidence that the company’s overall approach is working.
“They’re able to monetize it. If you’ve seen the growth in TKO with UFC, WWE, On Location, IMG, PBR, each of these continue to grow every year,” Khan said.
“It’s not easy, but it’s not supposed to be easy. We have to continue to develop and redevelop what we do and make sure we have the right team in place to help make the right decision.”
Khan concluded by acknowledging that not every decision will be successful.
“There are wins and losses on a daily basis. You just have to hope that you can get more wins than losses, and if you can, in our business, the stock price is high.”
WWE and ESPN announced their streaming rights partnership in August 2025. Since the deal went into effect, some fans have complained about difficulties accessing WWE Premium Live Events, including provider authentication issues, confusion surrounding how the events are marketed and subscription requirements.
