Update: Fightful is reporting that after speaking with WWE higher-ups, there does not appear to be anything to Warner’s interest in WWE content.
2023 has already been a wild year for the world of professional wrestling. WWE has been sold to Endeavor in a blockbuster deal that will see it merge with UFC, Vince McMahon is back, and now it looks as if AEW could be on the verge of a CM Punk return, all while launching a brand new Saturday night show.
With so much going on, it can be easy to forget that WWE will begin its latest round of TV rights negotiations very shortly, if not already. With Endeavor at the helm, WWE will continue to negotiate its distribution with various media partners. Both Comcast, home of USA, and Fox are said to be getting the right of first refusal when it comes to making offers but it appears other networks, and streaming platforms, are in the wings with offers.
On SI Media with Jimmy Trainia, entertainment author James Andrew Miller spoke about WWE’s impending TV rights negotiations, and teased an interesting potential buyer for the content.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, despite the fact that money is such an issue for them,” Miller began. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Warner Brothers Discovery wants a slice of that WWE pie. Monday night does not have to be on Monday night. Monday night’s a tough night because if you go through the calendar, all year round, there are sports on Monday night, and, you could, if you were Warner Brothers Discovery, you could say, ‘We’re going to move it to a different night.’
“You’ve got Thursday night with the NBA, or whatever, but we’re going to figure out a different night for it. All of a sudden, it becomes very attractive.”
Of course, Warner Brothers Discovery owns TNT and TBS, which features rival pro wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling. If WBD were to make a move to carry WWE programming, it could create a wave of issues or opportunities, depending on how things play out. Miller was pressed about how that dynamic could play out if WBD were to win some, or all, of the rights to WWE TV.
“I don’t know but I do know that there are people at Warner Brothers Discovery interested in WWE,” he bluntly stated. “If they were to lose the NBA then, I would imagine, they would become a pretty big advocate to buy something.”
If you use any quotes from this article please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling for the transcription