AEW’s next media rights deal will be one of the biggest stories of the year and potentially one of the biggest stories for professional wrestling.
The Warner Bros. Discovery TV upfronts are tomorrow and AEW will be mentioned but that does not necessarily mean that a new deal is imminent. In fact, PWInsider is reporting that the belief is that both sides have not locked in a new new deal yet so don’t expect anything to be announced tomorrow.
For what it’s worth, the belief is that WBD is losing the NBA to NBC so, in theory, that should free up money for WBD to spend to keep AEW. AEW Dynamite is among the top shows on cable and on most weeks, they are ranked in the top 5 in the key demographic so one would think that WBD would want to keep them.
Whether or not WBD is willing to give them a big increase is anyone’s guess. A big rights increase would likely mean that AEW would be profitable and they can rest easy for the next few years. We won’t get any answers to any of these questions this week and there are still several more months left until the current deal expires.
