As noted before, AEW’s television deal with Warner Bros Discovery is currently expected to expire at the end of this year while their exclusivity window for talks with WBD for a potential new media rights deal expired at the end of this past July. WBD recently made an offer that is believed to be worth “at least double” of AEW’s current deal. Besides WBD, FOX is also currently believed to be in talks with AEW for a potential separate deal.
Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated AEW and WBD have reached an agreement for a new media rights deal. Meltzer reported that this new deal includes a pay-per-view component for AEW PPVs events on MAX but the exact specifics regarding how it will be handled is currently not known.
In regards to AEW’s talks with FOX, Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that a potential deal between AEW and FOX is not done as of yet. Meltzer speculated that this new deal would not be for an AEW show on the FOX network and instead more likely will be airing on a different FOX-owned channel or streaming platform.
Meltzer also speculated that a deal with FOX likely is very close to being done based on AEW’s recent trademark of “Shockwave” over them actually went to the lengths of trademarking the name for a potential new show.