It looks like New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is negotiating for a new broadcast TV deal in the United States.
According to a report from Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, NJPW is getting a new US TV deal after the promotion was affected by Anthem Media Group’s decision to stop broadcasting NJPW on AXS TV. Anthem, IMPACT Wrestling’s parent company, purchased AXS TV back in September.
That December, AXS TV decided to stop airing NJPW on their network despite their broadcast deal not expiring until January of 2021. NJPW was aware that they’d need a new TV deal after their current deal with AXS TV expired, but were completely caught off guard by the network’s decision to stop broadcasting their programming. NJPW wasn’t in a rush to find a new deal because they initially had a year to find a new broadcast partner.
Now, things have obviously changed. Despite AXS TV deciding to stop broadcasting NJPW, the promotion decided not to sue for breach of contract. Mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA), whose programming suffered the same fate as NJPW, did sue AXS TV for breach of contract.
As of this writing, there’s no information on who NJPW will sign a deal with. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. For now, NJPW events are being streamed on New Japan World.
