AEW TV Deal With Turner Expected To Be Announced At Wednesday's Upfronts In NYC

By Marc Middleton

All Elite Wrestling's TV deal with Turner is said to be "virtually done," according to Tony Maglio of The Wrap.

AEW President Tony Khan and some of the AEW wrestlers are expected to represent the company on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the WarnerMedia Upfronts. The event begins at 10am ET but there is scheduled to be an announcement on the partnership before the Upfront presentation begins.

There's no word yet on details of the deal but financial terms are not expected to be disclosed because AEW is not a publicly traded company.

We noted before how Twitter insider @fightoracle reported last month that AEW was expected to be at the Warner Upfronts. He also reported that AEW will be debuting during the first week of October, the same week that WWE SmackDown begins airing on Friday nights for Fox. Jim Ross stated in an interview in April that the AEW show will be live for two-hours every week.

According to the Wrap, the plan is for AEW's weekly TV show to air on TNT. @fightoracle had reported last month that AEW would air on Tuesday nights. The Wrap story had originally stated that the upcoming AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view on May 25th would stream on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, but Maglio clarified that it is not the case:

AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes spoke about AEW's potential TV deal during his Wrestling Inc. interview from February. Rhodes said it could create a "massive shift in the pro wrestling industry."

"I can't talk about it but I know that I was quoted as saying, not by you guys, that 'a TV deal was not important.' And I think that in the context I was speaking, I was talking about how important social media and do-it-yourself brands are compared to the traditional TV median," he explained. "But I also – let's be serious, major TV is a huge thing. And it would be a massive shift in the pro wrestling industry. It would be a change-the-world-like move. But I can't talk about any pending TV deals.

"A lot of the information that's out there is very accurate about what we're seeking to do and how frequently we're seeking to do it," Rhodes continued. "But I don't want to discourage any future partners. I can say that people have been really calculated about how we roll out announcements. We want to be proper. We can't just stand on the podium in Jacksonville and say, 'Hey, here's the entire business model, here's all of our plans, here's x-amount of money.' We can't do that. I know the business of the business is very entertaining but I think if people put their trust in us like they have, we won't let them down."

Comments

Recommended