A new media rights deal for AEW and WBD is reportedly ready to be announced.
For the past few weeks, speculation has increased regarding Warner Bros. Discovery potentially renewing their media rights deal with All Elite Wrestling in the near future, with Andrew Zarian recently reporting that due to the exclusivity of the new deal, both AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation have come to an end on YouTube.
It now appears as though a deal between AEW and WBD is finalised and ready to be announced, with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer now reporting that AEW are set to announce the deal at next week’s Dynamite at The Theatre at MSG.
“A new TV rights deal between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery will be announced as part of the latter’s upfront next Wednesday in New York City.”
-Dave Meltzer
The report then confirms that the long-rumoured AEW Collision show is also set to be revealed at the May 17th episode of Dynamite. Various reports in recent weeks have indicated that Collision is set to be an additional two hour wrestling show for AEW on Saturday nights, with CM Punk expected to feature heavily upon his return.
As noted in the above quote, next week’s AEW Dynamite taping is set to be an upfront for WBD, with the network looking to drive advertiser interest in upcoming slates of programming.
As of writing, both the length of the extension and the amount paid by WDB are currently unknown. AEW’s previous rights extension was agreed in January 2020 and called for a total of $175 million with an option for a 1-year extension at “a significantly increased price,” according to Meltzer.
Final, per both Andrew Zarian and now Dave Meltzer, AEW’s new media rights deal with WBD does not include any Ring of Honor programming, with ROH’s content currently finding a home on Tony Khan’s HonorClub subscription service.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the reported media rights deal between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery as soon as we hear more.
