Last month, ESPN faced severe backlash after it abruptly switched the broadcasting of PFL Washington to a breakdancing competition midway through the event. Well, it appears that the situation hasn’t improved much this month either. The promotion’s current broadcasting partner is again under fire for ruining yet another card due to streaming issues.

PFL Charlotte just concluded with ex-UFC fighter Bryan Battle winning the showdown against Dalton Rosta by split decision in a middleweight bout in front of his home crowd. Though the card had some pretty amazing clashes, the viewers struggled to watch the event on ESPN+. Fans on social media complained that the stream was not live on the platform when the main card started. Adding to that, fans reported feed interruptions and delays with the stream. While the technical difficulties were sorted out midway through the main card, the fan uproar was all too evident to ignore. As complaints started piling up, PFL CEO John Martin’s past criticism of ESPN started resurfacing online. Speaking at the PFL New York’s post-fight presser last week, Martin had addressed the promotion facing a multitude of problems with its current broadcasting partner.

“I’ve expressed frustration, which I stand behind, by the lack of commitment and support that ESPN has been willing to give us this year,” Martin had lamented. “But I don’t dismiss ESPN as a massive entity with a fantastic platform. They have an output deal with MVPW, women’s boxing, which has just started. They seem to be showing them more love than they have with us, the PFL. 

“I’m hopeful that with this announcement, possibly we can go back and maybe they’ll rethink what their commitment is, and that will open up a new line of communication. I’ve got great respect for Jimmy Pitaro and the team there, but I stand by what I said. They just haven’t done much for us this year.”    

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The social media account posting John Martin’s clip from PFL New York implies the degree of the promotion’s soured relationship with ESPN. Though the PFL CEO didn’t explicitly mention anything about the streaming issues, he expressed overall frustration with their current broadcaster.

One such issue he mentioned during the presser was that ESPN has been giving the PFL less attention after signing an exclusive deal with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions women’s boxing platform in March 2026, which is set to run through 2028.

But that’s just one of the issues Martin believes has plagued their current partnership with ESPN, which is set to expire at the end of 2026. Back in June, the PFL CEO addressed his disdain with ESPN in an interview with Sports Business Journal, stating that the platform hasn’t done much to promote the MMA league.

In the SBJ interview, he also brought up receiving “complaints” from fans who found it hard to find their events on ESPN. For those who may not know, Martin’s jab was at ESPN’s strategy of putting the PFL Dubai event last year under their premium Unlimited subscription, which is priced at $29.99. 

That plan completely backfired, with existing ESPN regular subscribers choosing not to watch the event due to having to pay extra on top of their existing subscription.

ESPN has been streaming PFL fights for over seven years, with their partnership beginning in 2019. This year, however, both parties will see the end of their tenure at the end of this year. Reflecting on that, Martin has already implied that the promotion would be “unlikely” to reestablish their ties, and reportedly, they are already talking to Netflix and Fox.

Still, the PFL is not the only promotion to face streaming issues with ESPN.   

PFL’s rival promotion UFC faced streaming issues with ESPN

Like PFL, ESPN also served as its rival promotion UFC’s official broadcasting partner for seven years. During the tenure, reports of streaming issues spoiling fans’ excitement emerged multiple times. However, Alex Pereira’s title defense against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 turned out especially bad after the entire card faced abrupt pauses, black screens, and other issues that frustrated fans and fighters alike.

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Vera became very vocal about facing streaming issues on ESPN while the event was going live. ‘Chito’ particularly targeted ESPN, launching a proper tirade against the broadcasting company for running the PPV event that cost him over $80 to purchase.

“Just bought the PPV and can’t see ?????? Wtfffffffff,” ‘Chito’ wrote on X. “Come the f–k on ESPN.”

“Still can’t watch f–k,” he wrote half an hour later, with other fighters and fans completely trashing ESPN with colorful words because of the interruptions during UFC 313.

That broadcasting mishap reportedly made TKO brass furious, and it’s considered one of the reasons UFC ended up not signing with ESPN once again. The promotion officially ended its ESPN era last December and started its historic $7.7 billion deal with Paramount+. And now, with ESPN’s deal with PFL set to expire at the end of this year, it would be interesting to see which broadcaster they end up signing with.