After months of talk about AEW’s TV rights deal expiring with Warner Bros. Discovery at the end of this year, things could be coming to a close.
As previously reported, WBD CEO, President David Zaslav, and TNT Sports head Luis Silberwasser would like to keep the five hours of AEW programming per week on TNT and TBS with Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision. The figures that have been talked about are reportedly more than the estimated $110 million annually.
AEW has been with WBD since it launched in 2019. Since that time, they’ve signed some of the biggest names in wrestling and grown into the second-biggest promotion in the world. The AEW exclusive negotiation period with WBD is running out within a few weeks.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that “there are expectations the deal would be announced imminently, maybe even before the expiration of the exclusive window for negotiating that is just about over. I will say that we’ve gotten people who say they know from all over saying completely contradictory things about the talks.”
Meltzer continued by noting how AEW President Tony has suggested the new deal is good news and a game changer, while his rivals have quietly gotten the word out that it’s the opposite because that’s how the game is played.
AEW presents its Forbidden Door pay-per-view event this Sunday with NJPW.
