The announcement of AEW's new media rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery could come as early as next week. Below is everything that's being reported about the potential deal.
On Monday, veteran sports business writer John Ourand published a Puck News report stating that AEW is expected to receive a substantial increase from its previous agreement with WBD.
"It looks like it will be a four-year deal (three years guaranteed, plus an option), and the $170 million per year number floating around wrestling message boards is apparently in the ballpark," he wrote.
While the $170 million figure is only an "in the ballpark" number, it would mark more than a doubling of recent media rights fees AEW has received. The company is believed to have received $63 million from WBD in 2023 and will get $85 million in 2024.
AEW programming will air twice weekly on TNT, TBS, and TruTV as part of the new deal, Ourand continued, with the latter two being part of WBD's efforts to make the channels more sports-oriented and thus appealing to advertisers.
"This deal marks a clear success for AEW, which launched five years ago with a threshold WBD deal," Ourand continued.
Monday's report did not mention the possibility of AEW's pay-per-views airing on the WBD-owned streaming service, MAX, or if that is included in the ballparked $170 million figure.
Fightful Select reports that AEW is being tight-lipped about the deal, including if AEW's PPV content is included. However, sources they've spoken to believe the PPVs will be part of a separate agreement.
"Several on both sides that we've spoken to believe that the MAX/PPV and streaming deals very well could be separate from the amount outlined by Ourand, and a part of a different deal the two sides are working on," Fightful's report reads.
Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter published a report yesterday with a few new details, including that the deal is for AEW Dynamite and Collision but likely not Rampage.
"This would confirm what another source indicated to us this past week that Rampage would not be continued," Meltzer wrote.
AEW Shockwave is expected to replace Rampage as the company's third show. It is believed AEW is shopping it around to potential broadcast partners, including Fox, which would mean more additional revenue.
Follow InstinctCulture for all the latest news on AEW's TV rights deal.
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