The clock is ticking for All Elite Wrestling and Warner Bros. Discovery. Just months into the start-up’s launch in 2019, AEW landed a broadcast contract with the company then known as WarnerMedia. The initial deal made WBD’s TNT the home of AEW’s flagship show, AEW Dynamite, upon its launch that fall. In the five years since then, AEW has expanded the terms of its contract with WBD, adding two more weekly in-ring products in the form of AEW Rampage and AEW Collision as well as axing YouTube developmental shows AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation to give WBD the exclusive distribution rights to all of AEW’s wrestling shows. This contractual restructuring did not come with any extension terms, as AEW and WBD’s initial five-year agreement is still set to expire at the end of 2024.
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AEW “Disappointed” By Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV Rights Offer
AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery’s negotiations remain in early stages.
As reported by Puck‘s Matt Beloni, AEW President Tony Khan is “disappointed” by WBD’s current offer for AEW’s media rights. Khan is said to be aware that WBD’s recent loss of NBA basketball broadcasts gives AEW more leverage, as WBD will be looking to fill its live sports void while also reinvesting in the live sports assets it already has. WBD maintains an exclusive negotiating window with AEW until July.
Khan has waxed poetic about his relationship with WBD for years and has often emphasized his desire to expand to streaming. Khan has long had conversations with WBD about getting AEW content on WBD’s streaming service, Max, but that possibility is outside the scope of AEW’s current contract. Those contractual limitations are why plans to stream AEW ALL IN: London 2023 on Max fell through.
“We’ll have to see. We’re actively negotiating right now, and at that point we’ll be deep in the conversations,” Khan told ComicBook when asked if AEW ALL IN: London 2024 edition will be on a streaming service. “It’s hard to say this year. When we find a streaming home for AEW, that’s going to be a long-term plan. Given that we’re up at the end of this year, I think one of the reasons I’ve wanted to wait is I think when we get the streaming contract figured out, it should be a long-term solution for the fans.”
Stay tuned to ComicBook for updates on AEW’s media rights future.
