A new report gives reason to believe that AEW television content could be on another network in the near future since their current broadcast partner is currently flirting with WWE.
Media rights deals are a huge revenue source for companies that can offer fresh television content during the year. The NFL, NBA, and MLB make billions off their current media deals and that also holds true for WWE and the UFC, since they can uniquely offer year-round content.
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Earlier this year, it was reported that AEW could also join the billion-dollar media rights club in a new deal since their current contract with Warner Bros. Discovery to air shows on TNT and TBS is set to end next year. However, months have passed and the promotion does not seem any closer to finalizing a much-needed broadcast contract for the years ahead.
Well, it seems there might be a specific reason why. AEW President and Co-Founder Tony Khan is notoriously loyal and reportedly would prefer to stick with Warner Bros. Discovery. However, the feeling may not be mutual.
AEW TV deal may be delayed by Warner Bros. Discovery’s attempts to land WWE content first
On Wednesday, PW Insider reported that WWE CCO Paul Levesque (AKA Triple H) was not at this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw because he and CEO Nick Khan were in Los Angeles looking to finalize a new media rights deal for the Monday tent pole show.
The outlet also noted that Warner Bros. Discovery is allegedly one of the finalists in the chase for the Raw rights, along with Disney, Amazon, and NBC Universal. It would make sense that a deal between Warner Bros Discovery and AEW has been delayed because the media giant may be looking to see if they can get a deal done with WWE first.
If WWE and Warner Bros. Discovery can finalize an agreement it is highly unlikely they would want the two top wrestling products in the industry on their networks. Meaning Tony Khan would have to look for a new deal far later in the game than most media rights packages are negotiated.
WWE agreed to a multi-year deal worth over a billion dollars with NBC Universal earlier this year to bring Smackdown from FOX and, likely to, the USA Network in 2024.
