For weeks earlier this year, AEW President Tony Khan teased fans with the promise that he was working on something big. "There will be a lot of news in the weeks ahead," he told Busted Open Radio in February. "I don't know if I'll get it done by tonight, but stay tuned in the week ahead, hopefully. I'm working on something pretty big. It would be massive. I don't know if it's what anybody would expect or think it is, but it would be a big deal in pro wrestling. I'm looking forward to hopefully making it happen. Stay tuned. I will hopefully get it done and have more to announce soon."
Fan speculation was all over the board. Was it another signing of an ex-WWE star? Was Bray Wyatt coming to AEW? Did it have something to do with Ring of Honor? Had a deal with HBO Max finally been made? While the announcement turned out to be Khan’s acquisition of Ring of Honor, rumors of a partnership with HBO are still out there.
AEW Has Been Trying To Get A Deal Done With HBO
AEW commentator Tony Schiavone was asked about a potential HBO deal last October. “I do know that there were people in Warner Media that I knew, that I still know, that has nothing to do with AEW that told me, ‘You know that AEW is going to be part of HBO Max,'” Schiavone said. “I remember asking somebody in the front office, not Tony (Khan), ‘Are we going to be on HBO Max?’ They said, ‘Yeah, until they want to come up with a lot more money.’ I think we’re going to end up getting our own streaming service. I’m just trying to fill in all the blanks here from what I’ve heard. It’s not really on Tony’s radar right now, but I’m sure there are people in the office that are working that out for him.”
With Warner Media owning both HBO and the Turner networks of TNT and TBS, a deal with HBO is a logical next step. AEW going on their own and starting their own streaming service, such as WWE did with the WWE Network, doesn’t make as much sense. There is a potential problem going with that route. WWE is an established brand that’s been around for decades. Everyone, even non-wrestling fans, knows who they are. AEW is the new kid on the block. They don’t have anywhere near the same name recognition. Outside of getting hardcore fans to subscribe, they are probably not going to build their audience by doing it themselves.
AEW Should Follow The WWE On Peacock Model
The $50 pay-per-view strategy has started to become a thing of the past. On top of this, AEW’s partnership with Bleacher Report as the host for their shows has been mixed. While numbers are up every year, they are matched by the complaints about Bleacher Report’s technical issues. Moving to HBO Max is the next necessary step if AEW wants to compete with WWE (and they do, even when they say they don’t).
Outside the international market, the WWE Network has been absorbed into NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming platform. It has been very successful. The other Khan in the wrestling world, WWE President Nick Khan, recently said that 3.5 million Peacock subscribers watch their WWE content. That’s more than double the 1.5 million subscribers that the WWE Network had.
HBO Max currently has 4.8 million subscribers and is generally more respected than Peacock. They are home to huge movie releases every month and popular shows like Euphoria and John Cena’s Peacemaker. Peacock doesn’t have that. AEW would gain instant recognition as part of the “cool” streaming service, with an audience that has the potential at least to outdo WWE’s numbers.
Just as WWE has used streaming services to build a library of past content and new content such as documentaries, AEW can easily do the same. Not only could a fan watch every past episode of Dynamite and Rampage, but now the entire Ring of Honor catalog as well. With such charismatic talent on their roster, it would be easy to imagine the number of documentaries that could be produced, or reality-type content like what the Young Bucks have been so successful with on YouTube.
If Tony Khan wants to stand toe to toe with Vince McMahon, this is the biggest next move. No matter how great the product, no matter how many ex-WWE talents are signed, it doesn’t matter if it’s not exposed to the greatest audience possible. With HBO Max, AEW has the chance to expand and become a household name, and with its emphasis on a professional wrestling product, bring back fans who have left the sport behind.