Report: Warner Bros. Discovery Looking To Push AEW As A Sport, Want A Long-Term Deal
Warner Bros. Discovery looking to further their partnership with AEW
When the Warner Bros. Discovery merger happened earlier in 2022, AEW fans were concerned about the future of the brand across their network, mainly due to a number of high profile cost cutting measures across the board after the merger was finalised.
Since then, numerous reports emerged stating Warner Bros. Discovery’s satisfaction with AEW’s performance, and a new report from John Arezzi on the Pro Wrestling Spotlight podcast suggests Warner Bros. Discovery wants to push AEW in a new direction and form a long-term partnership:
"They're trying to make it a sport," Arezzi said. "That's what the strategy is. The strategy is that they are pushing AEW into the sports category, not the entertainment category. They're increasing that because of the new ownership because Warner Bros. is now Warner Bros. Discovery.”
Arezzi continued, "Everything I hear of what's going on even with TNT, it's gonna be turning into a more sports-centric network. So they are now putting their resources behind these promo announcements to increase ratings. So whether or not they're tasteful in regards to the violence and the blood, there's a method to the madness."
"I'm privy to a lot of insider conversations at least on the Warner Bros. Discovery side. I have a lot of people there in very high executive positions that I've known for many years that I worked for when I was in television here in Nashville. The same people who are now the leaders of Warner Bros. Discovery on the ad sales front. They see this property, AEW, as someone they want to be in business with long-term. They had a contract which was absorbed by them when they merged that wasn't the sweetest deal for TNT and TBS. It was kind of one-sided. So now what they are trying to do is to kind of collaborate and work together so they can work on the next long-term deal with them. I can't get into it too much but there's a lot of faith behind the AEW product right now from the folks at Warner Bros. Discovery.”
H/T: WrestlingNews.co