As first reported by Variety All Elite Wrestling has officially extended their television deals with Warner Bros Discovery.
Here are some thoughts on what we know about the new deal:
Simulcast
AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision will be simulcast to Max starting January, first reported by Fightful Select and Beyond the Bell. Essentially this means you don’t need a cable TV subscription to watch Dynamite and Collision and can instead watch them on the Max Streaming app.
I consider this one of the biggest parts of the deal and one of the most important for AEW to secure. AEW is essentially a strong cable brand for WBD which they can rely on for ratings throughout the week. To bolster the Max app with weekly Dynamite and Collision, it ensures that the more people cut the cord for television they don’t lose out on weekly AEW TV.
As of September, Max has 95.8 million global subscribers with 54 million based in the US. Out of that 54 million there should be some AEW viewers to earn.
Pay Per View
Also first reported by Fightful Select and Beyond the Bell is an integration of AEW Pay Per View to Max. Per Variety, AEW pay per view will be on Max in 2025 as a discounted price per event, with all marketing centered on Max.
End of AEW Rampage
As first reported by Kenny The Sports Podcast, it will be the end of AEW Rampage on TNT. I’ve been prepared for this for a while but it’s sad to see the end of AEW Rampage. This one goes out to the Pagers. BEEP IT!
While the Variety piece did not specifically say Rampage would be ended, it did not mention Dynamite or Collision.
Enhanced Distribution and Social Media
What will probably be one of the lesser discussed portions of the piece by Variety is that the deal includes enhanced distribution rights across social media as well as potential new AEW programming on linear and digital platforms. This could mean TV shows (AEW had been testing a cooking show with RJ City and Renee Paquette on the TBS YouTube) but could also mean WBD helping AEW with their social media. At least that’s what I hope.
The Fox deal for Shockwave that has been rumoured will likely be a separate press release and we will publish once it gets announced. As well as any information on Ring of Honor for 2025.
