A report has new details on the business relationship between AEW & Warner Bros. Discovery amid AEW’s media rights talks. AEW has been in discussions for a renewal of their media rights deal and have not yet signed a new deal. Fightful Select has a lengthy report looking at the relationship between the two companies with some notes about the negotiations.
According to the report, both sides have felt good about the notion that they will continue their partnership and that WBD has been actively pitching and taking part in their cross-promotional work such as the House of the Dragon themed episode of Dynamite in late May. The company also worked with AEW on the Young Bucks’ Reebok deal and promotion. The two companies have weekly Monday meetings to talk about integrations, creative plans and to avoid any issues that may potentially come up.
According to the report, an offer is on the table for AEW from WBD and has been there for months. Details on the terms of the deal are not known and there have been talks going for some time, but AEW has chosen to wait thus far and conversations have continued. How much the deal could end up being for depends on a number of factors and the weekly shows, any potential affiliated shows (such as reality series), potential timeslot changes, the AEW library, streaming and possible PPV rights could all end up as a factor.
The report notes that the fact that there have been a variety of different timeslots and occasional three-hour blocks (due to the shifting of Rampage) are not accidental and that AEW and WBD have been looking at which nights, time slots and time blocks work best.
In regard to streaming, WBD is said to have had interest in 2023 in putting AEW’s PPVs on Max. However, it was expected at some point later that AEW will likely negotiate their properties together at first before looking at individual negotiations for properties.
In terms of reports from last year that WWE had a meeting with WBD, the reports notes that such a meeting did take place before WWE secured their now-announced TV deals. WWE and WBD are international partners due to the WWE-TNT Sports relationship.
