Tony Khan Reportedly Disappointed with Warner Bros Discovery’s Current Offer for New AEW TV Rights Deal [Update – AEW Denies Disappointment with WBD Offer]

Update:

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that those spoken to within AEW stated that Puck’s Matt Belloni’s report about Tony Khan being upset with WBD’s offer was not true.

Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that WBD’s first offer was not viewed as being a disappointment to Khan and the two sides remain in talks for a potential new media rights deal.

The Wrestling Observer’s Josh Nason reported that the current speculation online is that Belloni’s report might have been a “planted piece” from WWE President Nick Khan due to Belloni’s longtime friendship with Khan and Belloni has had Khan on his podcast show before. Nason reported that WWE had met with WBD during their recent television rights negotiations and AEW’s Khan stated in an interview that this was “part of sports” when he was asked about it at the time.

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AEW’s current television deal with Warner Bros Discovery is currently expected to expire at the end of this year. AEW is also currently still in their exclusivity window for talks with WBD for a potential new media rights deal.

Puck’s Matt Belloni reported that his sources stated that WBD CEO David Zaslav and TNT Sports Chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser want to retain AEW Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage for their television networks.

In regards to AEW, Belloni reported that those spoken to stated that Khan has been disappointed with the offer currently on the table from WBD. Belloni also reported that Khan also “surely knows that Zaz losing the NBA would give AEW more leverage, even though the money to re-up AEW is a mere drop in the NBA bucket.”

Belloni reported that should AEW’s exclusivity window with WBD expire this July and no new deal is reached by then, other interested parties could swoop in for the bidding for those rights. Belloni also reported that he is currently unsure how attractive AEW would be to other platforms due to only non-WWE partners would be able to join in on the potential bidding.

In regards to the potential effect on WBD, Belloni reported that AEW provides “reliable programming” for WBD’s networks and should Zaslav lose out on both the NBA and AEW television rights deals, that would cause more damage to WBD’s deal with cable providers.

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Khan had stated that AEW was in a great position for new media rights and praised WBD for being the best partner and their helpful contributions towards AEW’s growth as a company.

“It’s a really exciting time for AEW. We’re in active negotiations for the AEW media rights. Warner Bros. Discovery continues to be the best possible partner, and they’ve helped us grow this brand. It’s going to be a very exciting remainder to this year, and we’ll find out where AEW is going to live.

For everyone who cares about AEW all over the world, we’re in a great position. This is going to work out really well for AEW. We’re having great talks, and people should feel very confident about what that means for the wrestlers, the staff, and the fans. As a result of everyone’s hard work and endless support from the fans, there will be a tremendous deal for AEW. The outlook for the company is so bright moving forward.”