WWE’s media rights are about to enter free agency. Both Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown have their contracts with USA Network and Fox due up in Fall 2024. WWE President Nick Khan has emphasized the company’s desire to continue working with their current broadcast partners, but there’s no guarantee that both the red and blue brands continue on their respective networks come their deals’ expiration dates. With WWE now being owned by Endeavor, who has an extensive relationship with ESPN for its UFC content, many have speculated that the global leader in sports-entertainment could make its way to Bristol, CT. That said, a company that has an extensive wrestling history could be throwing its hat in the ring for WWE’s programming.
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Former Executive VP of Original Programming for USA Network James Andrew Miller noted that Warner Bros. Discovery has their eyes on WWE.
“I know there are people at Warner Bros. who are interested [in WWE],” Miller said.
Warner Bros. Discovery currently houses all of All Elite Wrestling’s televised content, as AEW Dynamite airs every Wednesday on TBS while AEW Rampage is broadcast on Fridays on TNT. Decades before AEW came into the picture, Warner Bros. had World Championship Wrestling on its networks.
When asked about how a WWE TV acquisition would affect AEW, Miller noted that he is unsure on if WWE would air alongside AEW or if Vince McMahon’s company’s content would outright replace Tony Khan’s promotion.
It’s worth noting that WWE NXT‘s deal with the USA Network is set to expire later this year. If Warner Bros. Discovery was able to acquire all three of WWE’s weekly network television shows and continued working with AEW, they could have a professional wrestling show on almost every day of the week.
- Monday: WWE Raw
- Tuesday: WWE NXT
- Wednesday: AEW Dynamite
- Thursday: TBD
- Friday: WWE SmackDown, AEW Rampage
- Saturday: AEW Collision, AEW Battle of the Belts (quarterly)
- Sunday: AEW PPVs (quarterly)
It’s unclear as to how having WWE and AEW content under the same broadcast roof would impact potential crossovers between the companies. The two having different owners would likely keep them operating as individual entities, but having the same television partner would make any chance at a crossover significantly greater than any point in prior history.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on WWE’s media rights.
