AEW, WBD to announce new TV rights deal next Wednesday
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.
The news comes from our Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer said both the deal and the much-discussed AEW Collision show will be announced at the Wednesday, May 17th event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Upfronts are events held by networks designed to drive advertiser interest in upcoming slates of programming.
The amount of years and money on the new deal are unknown, nor who will be in attendance from AEW.
As was reported by Andrew Zarian previously, the new deal gives WBD exclusivity on AEW programming which is why both Dark and Dark: Elevation recently ended on YouTube.
As Zarian, and now Meltzer, noted, the deal does not include any Ring of Honor programming which lives on Khan’s HonorClub subscription service.
In January 2020, AEW and then-WarnerMedia announced a four-year extension of their previous deal that runs through the end of this year. That extension called for $175 million total with an option year at “a significantly increased price” according to Meltzer.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.