In light of WWE's massive ESPN PremiumLive Event streaming deal, there have been many questioning when AEW would manage to strike up a similar deal. According to Andrew Zarian of "Mat MenRadio" on August 28, there was news that AEW has secured a pay-per-view streaming deal with HBO Max, which Tony Khan has been talking about for quite some time.
According toFightful Select,HBO Max app didn't have the systems in place for a live paywall-within-paywall or PPV model, and certain executives were surprised that the deal was announced before this could be set up. The report further claimed that additional platforms will likely continue to air AEW PPVs after they begin to air on HBO Max, adding that this year, AEW already made a deal with AmazonPrime while adjusting their deal with Triller from a domestic deal to an international one.
Sources have allegedly told Fightful Select that there are different possibilities regarding AEW PPVs, such as offering a discount on the cost of Max with each PPV purchase to incentivize subscribers to the platform or a $10 discount on HBO Max. Despite this, "Fightful" claims there hasn't been any news suggesting that the PPVs would end up being a service offered at no additional cost, and for this to happen, the AEW-HBO deal would have to undergo significant reworking. Lastly, there's a claim that HBO Max would become the preferred method for fans to watch AEW PPVs and would be heavily advertised on the weekly shows.
