AEW Pay-Per-View Partner Ends Partnership: Max Streaming Migration Imminent?

Bleacher Report Live will no longer host AEW pay-per-views.

By Liam Crowley

All Elite Wrestling's premium content partner since launch has been Bleacher Report Live. Within the United States, all AEW pay-per-views have been hosted by the Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiary, including inaugural event AEW Double or Nothing 2019. The partnership between AEW and B/R Live has been less than smooth for audiences, as fans have regularly cited buffering issues with the service over the five years that it remained AEW's exclusive domestic home for pay-per-views. This past April, AEW expanded its pay-per-view partners to include TrillerTV. By the summer, both YouTube and PPV.com were also among the alternative options for fans to purchase AEW pay-per-views.

Bleacher Report Live "Taking a Step Back" From AEW PPVs

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(Photo: Bleacher Report, AEW, TrillerTV)

The B/R Live era of AEW pay-per-views is over.

In an email, Bleacher Report notified previous subscribers that it is "taking a step back" from hosting AEW pay-per-views. The email noted that the Bleacher Report app will still have wrestling content, as fans can "keep up with moments and storylines" on it, but it will no longer provide AEW PPVs. 

Prior AEW PPV purchases will be removed from B/R accounts in the coming weeks. Subscribers have the option to retain replays of those past purchases via TrillerTV should they opt-in within the next 14 days.

AEW's current television deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is set to expire at the end of 2024. AEW President Tony Khan has been renegotiating with his company's broadcast partner throughout the year and has publicly confirmed that weekly AEW TV will continue to air on WBD's TNT and TBS for the long-term, but specifics of the renewal are still being ironed out. 

One of those specifics that is likely still getting fine-tuned is a streaming package, as Khan has long pushed for the AEW content library and monthly pay-per-views to move to Max.

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"For the pay-per-views, we've had great conversations about streaming. We've been doing it on Bleacher Report, but they are sunsetting Bleacher Report," Khan said earlier this month. "We're going to be doing our pay-per-views on other apps. You can get the pay-per-views on other places for now. We're working on some exciting announcements about where to get those and what's to come with Max."

Stay tuned to ComicBook for updates on AEW's pay-per-view future and potential streaming partnership.

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