Major Update On New AEW-WBD Deal

The latest details on a potential new WBD deal for AEW.

by Andrew Pollard
Tony Khan
AEW

With AEW's existing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery running until the end of 2024, there's now a notable update on the two parties continuing their working relationship.

As per Fightful Select, WBD sources have confirmed that, while there is a little bit of "red tape" to get through, the media conglomerate has made a new offer to AEW for a long-term TV deal. These sources state the offer is "literally extensive" and WBD is confident in it, with the offer now in AEW's hands to review. Both WBD and AEW remain optimistic that a deal will be agreed upon, although there's no word yet on when any possible announcement could take place.

Following previous reports that Tony Khan was to meet WBD CEO David Zaslav in Paris during the Olympics, it's said this meeting was viewed as productive from both sides, with this new deal offer coming together in the aftermath of this get-together.

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Fightful adds how sources close to this situation claim that AEW was offered "at least double" their current deal prior to this most recent offer. However, there are no publicly available numbers for their TV deal and it's not known whether this "double" would be for the same amount of programming as previously or if new elements would be incorporated.

At present, the existing AEW-WBD deal covers Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, with an exclusivity that meant Dark and Dark: Elevation were pulled from YouTube. Fightful has been told that "any and all combinations and possibilities" have been explored, with PPVs, library rights, and Ring of Honor amongst things that could alter the amount on any new deal when compared to AEW's existing WBD deal.

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Finally, sources from both AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery told Fightful that they expect this partnership to continue "for years to come" - even if a new deal hasn't quite been agreed on as of this writing.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.