– As previously reported, AEW had been in talks with Warner Bros. Discovery for a broadcast rights renewal deal. The exclusive negotiating window for WBD was slated to end in July. Fightful Select has an update on the recent talks.
According to Fightful’s update, WBD sources indicated that the exclusive negotiating window for WBD ended this week. So it appears the exclusive window lasted through all of July. It’s unknown if AEW and WBD have reached a new broadcast deal. It was previously rumored that a new broadcast deal between both parties is expected, and a new deal was said to not be “imminent.” Per the report, both sides were said to still be in ongoing conversations in the last week.
Additionally, it was previously reported by Fightful that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and AEW CEO Tony Khan are scheduled to be meeting in Paris, France during the Olympic Games. The meeting was reportedly scheduled for last weekend.
Fightful also reports that there has been a long, ongoing dialogue between AEW and WBD. It’s said that the two sides have been speaking weekly about synergy, co-promotion, and upcoming plans. One WBD source informed Fightful in 2023 that they thought there were “deep” into talks about making one specific aspect of a new broadcast deal work, which ended up being AEW Collision. There were also reportedly talks about AEW content appearing on Max.
Also, Fightful reports that WBD source said that for every broadcast deal that’s negotiated, the Max streaming service is in their minds while negotiating the deal.
