Backstage Update On MLW's New Vice TV Deal, "Dark Side Of The Ring" Tie-In, Fans To Return

MLW is reportedly scheduled to return to taping content with fans in the crowd this July.

As noted on Monday night, MLW revealed that they are set to premiere on Vice TV this spring. Specifics of the new TV deal have not been confirmed by the promotion, but PWInsider has revealed new details, noting that the MLW – Vice TV debut will happen in May.

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The plan is to initially feature MLW content from their library that will take advantage of the third season of Vice's "Dark Side of the Ring" hit series, which premieres on Thursday, May 6. The strategy behind this is to help Vice TV viewers learn about MLW's top stars, storylines and their history, and that, by using archived content, they prevent their first impression with new viewers being from empty arena content.

The actual date for MLW's premiere on Vice TV has not been confirmed, but one would think that the promotion would premiere around May 6, which is the "Dark Side of the Ring" season three premiere. It's believed that MLW will serve as the lead-in for the "Dark Side" documentary series.

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If everything goes as planned, MLW is looking at returning to taping TV content in front of a live crowd in July. That content would then begin airing on Vice TV as soon as possible. It's believed that the MLW shows on Vice will be taped, not live, but live TV from MLW is possible.

MLW's new Vice TV deal will not replace the current deals with DAZN and beIN Sports. MLW's flagship show, MLW Fusion, currently airs every Wednesday night on YouTube and Fubo Sports. The show also airs on DAZN, beIN SPORTS, and the Roku Channel.

MLW CEO Court Bauer is looking to get MLW on as many broadcast and streaming platforms as possible with the idea of creating unique programming across the board, when needed for as many content or TV deals as they can lock in. Their idea is that before, companies wanted to be in one place but these days you want to entrench yourself in as many places as possible to maximize revenue and to allow for different choices for fans to consume the content. If MLW can lock in five content or TV deals and then need to create content for all five of those deals, that will be their priority.

It was recently revealed that MLW had been in talks with the Discovery network. Those talks are still in progress and there could be other networks that the company is talking with.

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We've noted how a second MLW TV show has been rumored since January, and at one point the "MLW Rebellion" name was being tossed around. It was reported back in January that a second MLW TV series was being shopped to English and Spanish language networks, but there's no word yet on if this is related to the new Vice TV deal, or the talks with Discovery.

Stay tuned for more on MLW expansion. You can see the new Vice TV trailer below:

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