Paramount Skydance's attempt to purchase AEW's parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery, took a huge step in the right direction for Paramount as the United States Justice Department's Antitrust Division has given the green light for the $111 billion merger to go ahead.Politico have confirmed that the merger can take place without requiringany divestitures, behavioral remedies or concessions, and that the transaction wouldn't pose a threat to either competition or American consumers. This goes against the open letter opposing the deal that was signed by more than 5,500 people, who all stated that the merger would result in reduced competition in the entertainment space, less jobs, and higher prices for the average American customer. According to Variety, some of the signatures were from the likes of Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Ben Stiller, but with this major hurdle out of the way, Paramount Skydance are now one step closer to securing the deal they've been looking for.The legal troubles surrounding the deal aren't over yet though, as the deal is still under investigation by the California Department of Justice, and other state attorney generals can still sue to block the deal despite the Antitrust Division's decision.As for what this all means for AEW, that is still up in the air and the company's fate won't be fully known until both the merger is complete, and AEW's current media rights deal with WBD expires in December 2027, or if the extra year option is activated December 2028. With that said, AEW President Tony Khan is reportedly very optimistic about being under the Paramount-WBD umbrella and looks forward to the future. It was also reported at the start of June that Khan saw Paramount as the more favorable option when it came to the WBD bidding war, with the other major bidder being Netflix, which would have likely been worse for AEW given that service's partnership with WWE.
