There has been a lot of talk about potential TV deals in the wrestling business lately, particularly with WWE being sold and Vince McMahon supposedly returning, in part, to oversee the negotiations with networks vying for the promotion's TV rights. It seems AEW's TV deal is up for grabs this year too, and it may well be on the cusp of signing an almost unbelievable new contract.
AEW's Rumored New Deal
AEW's first deal with Warner Bros. Discovery would have been signed in 2019 and reportedly ran for four years, so it makes sense that a new deal would need to be negotiated very soon. Rumors have started to swirl this week pertaining to just how big a deal that's going to be, and if those rumors are true, AEW is about to land an absolutely mammoth television deal.
Apparently the promotion is about to put pen to paper on a five-year deal worth $1 billion. If true, the new contract will run for five years and all AEW programming will be exclusive to WBD and its various networks. That not only includes Dynamite, All Access, and the still unannounced new Saturday show Collision, but could also mean WBD gets exclusive streaming rights for all future AEW PPVs.
WBD Gets Everything
If this deal is indeed about to be signed and made official, it would further explain why Dark and Dark: Elevation has been scrapped. The two YouTube shows may well have been discussed as a part of WBD's negotiations, but the corporation ultimately decided between all of the shows mentioned above, it would already have enough AEW programming across its networks, and presumably available through its streaming service HBO Max, soon to become just Max.
Take all of the above with a grain of salt for now as not only has it not been confirmed by AEW or WBD, but the rumors appear to have stemmed from the Wrestling Observer board. While shared by quite a few people on social media, the suggestion that AEW might be about to sign a billion-dollar deal appears to have begun with Observer writer Ryan Frederick. A few fans have tried to shoot down the very idea of WBD paying that much for AEW content, but Frederick has done with math and it adds up.