All Elite Wrestling will remain on Warner Brothers Discovery.
Variety first reported that AEW signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery that is reportedly valued at "upwards" of $150 million per year.
AEW Dynamite will remain on TBS. AEW Collision will remain on TNT. Both shows will be simulcast on streaming service Max beginning in January 2025.
AEW pay-per-views will be available on Max later in 2025 at a discounted price per event.
“We are honored to announce the extension of our incredible partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery,” said AEW CEO, GM and head of creative Tony Khan. “This extension continues the tradition of iconic wrestling events broadcast on TBS and TNT, while also establishing a new legacy for AEW through weekly live streams on Max for years to come. We thank David Zaslav, Kathleen Finch and everyone at WBD for their tireless support of All Elite Wrestling since its inception, as well as the AEW fans, talent and staff that helped make this possible.”
A New Deal for a New Era of Professional Wrestling!@AEW & @WBD have struck a multi-platform, multi-year media rights renewal for TBS, TNT, and — starting in 2025 — @StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/9R58ysCzpp
— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV) October 2, 2024
AEW Dynamite first aired on TNT on October 2, 2019. The show moved to TBS in January 2022. AEW Collision premiered on TNT on June 17, 2023.
Fightful Select first reported that AEW Dynamite and Collision will be simulcast on Max starting in January. Sean Ross Sapp would go on to clarify a number of details from Fightful Select.
AEW's deal with WBD is official. Dynamite and Collision will continue on TBS and TNT, and will stream live on MAX starting in January 2025. AEW PPVs will be on MAX at a discounted rate later in 2025.
In the hours following the official announcement of the WBD and AEW deal, Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp learned a lot more details.
As of now, Dynamite and Collision will remain on Wednesday and Saturday respectively, and AEW Rampage will no longer air on WBD. Rampage was a show that WBD had requested in 2021, but upon the new deal, both sides prioritized Dynamite and Collision. WBD noted that Rampage could end up elsewhere, but we've yet to hear any plans regarding that brand.
As it pertains to the AEW library, right now the plan is to have Dynamite, Collision and Rampage's full library included on Max. If Rampage does go elsewhere, the library moving forward will not be on WBD.
Regarding financial reports of the deal, we're told neither AEW or WBD disclosed those details. Variety said it would be near $150 million per year. Sports Business Journal heard $170 million. Fightful Select reported earlier this year that "at least double" what they had been making was offered, which would have been at least $140-150 million. However, those that we spoke to said that when Puck had originally reported the $170 million a year number, that would end up being "low" compared to what AEW would end up getting. AEW will also get PPV revenue as a result of the PPV events airing at a discounted rate on MAX. Fightful reported and had it confirmed on our breaking news podcast that the number was actually $185 million a year on average for the first three years.
Of all the details of the deal internally, PPVs being paywalled, and then still costing money was the only one met with negativity. When we asked those in AEW, they pointed at the UFC point of view of if you cannibalize your PPV model, you can't go back. A good example of this is WWE moving to the Network format and now being unable to capitalize on big PPV sales now that they're hot, although one WBD source said that the ease of access of WWE's PLE events could be a big reason they're so successful now. We're told that this model could end up changing for AEW/WBD down the road.
Sports Business Journal had also reported that WBD had an equity stake in AEW that they retained. Thus far, neither AEW nor WBD have confirmed this. Beyond that, PR contacts at both companies even noted they'd never heard of that aspect of WBD having equity in AEW.
TruTV and Ring of Honor were never mentioned to us or in the press materials. AEW did regain some additional elements in the deal. Since the announcement of Collision in 2023, WBD maintained exclusivity, which is why AEW Dark went away. However, under this new deal, AEW regains those rights. There have been mentions internally about possibly using Dark in the future, though nothing is confirmed.
Credit to Andrew Zarian, who has been on top of this story for well over a year.
THE TLDR: Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has learned the following about the AEW-WBD deal.
The deal is closer to $185M annual average (per @WrestleVotes and Sean Ross Sapp on our WBD-AEW Breaking news stream). Both sides said they didn't provide the $150m number to Variety. Variety reported "upwards of" $150M, but that means more than. They later corrected this.
Both WBD and AEW sources had no knowledge of any equity situation, and reps said they've never been briefed on that. If it's the case, longtime employees of AEW have also never been told something of that sort.
Dynamite and Collision will air in their normal time slot and days, and also be streamed on Max. This was an important factor for both sides.
Dynamite, Collision and Rampage replays will be the library of footage available on Max. We've heard nothing of PPVs from 2019-2014 being included as of yet.
PPVs will be added to Max for a discounted price to subscribers in 2025. We've not learned if WBD "bought" the PPVs or will continue to split revenue.
Rampage will not be featured on WBD in 2025. AEW gets more money for less programming. AEW had already discussed to possibility of shopping Rampage elsewhere early in the Summer, but we've not heard of plans to continue the show. The program was one that WBD wanted in 2021.
ROH and TruTV were not mentioned in the press materials. For the time being, ROH will operate the same as they have prior.
WBD had exclusivity over AEW broadcast content on TV, but now do not. AEW could theoretically bring back the likes of AEW Dark if they chose.
WBD sources confirmed Andrew Zarian's report from last year that they'd approached AEW about the possibility of integrating PPVs on Max in 2023. They also noted there was a dialogue regarding the future of AEW-WBD as far back as early last year, and WBD actually thought some of the overtures for plans in the Spring of last year would go through.
AEW and WBD always expected to continue to work together.
AEW is set hold its five-year anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite on October 2nd. Fans can check out the lineup for the show by clicking here.
Fightful has coverage of all AEW shows, including post-show reviews on our YouTube channel.
