Why MLW Won't Be Joining WWE on Peacock

By Connor Casey

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Tuesday that NBCUniversal and the Reelz Channel have struck a deal that will see its live linear feed and on-demand program join the Peacock streaming service on March 1. That news might have perked up the ears of wrestling fans as Major League Wrestling recently struck a deal with Reelz and debuted its new weekly flagship show, MLW Underground Wrestling, back on Feb. 7. Unfortunately, THR's report also noted that MLW won't be making the jump to Peacock due to the streaming service's ongoing deal with WWE.

"While it will include the channel's live linear feed, it will not stream Tuesdays in the 10 p.m. hour, as Reelz airs Major League Wrestling in that hour. Peacock has a streaming deal with the WWE, which has exclusivity in the category on Peacock," the report read. The news comes just two weeks after the promotion's anti-trust lawsuit against WWE was thrown out by a judge.

"The Court finds that MLW has not included sufficient facts to plausibly allege a relevant antitrust product market. Regarding the proposed market, the complaint alleges only that there are four competitors in the 'United States professional wrestling market'; that the 'business of promoting professional wrestling as sports entertainment is fundamentally a media industry, with revenues and business valuation[s] driven largely by fees obtained from broadcasting rights deals'; and that corporations such as NBCUniversal and Fox Sports 'purchase broadcasting rights in the [proposed market] for their various distribution channels such as broadcast networks, cable and satellite services, streaming networks, and film production companies," court documents pertaining to the dismissal read.

"These facts, as pled, are not sufficient to provide an understanding of the characteristics of the relevant market, including the existence or lack of substitutes. For example, there are no allegations addressing why other 'sports entertainment' or 'media' content for which broadcasting rights might be sold to distribution channels are not appropriate substitutes. MLW is correct that a single sport may constitute a relevant market... but there are no facts alleged in the complaint to support that legal conclusion. Additionally, the complaint uses multiple formulations to describe the proposed market, which further complicates the question of the market's boundaries and the reasonably interchangeable products contained within," it continued.

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