WWE has reached an agreement on a new multi-year global partnership deal with Bleacher Report, which has naturally led to discussions within the wrestling world as Bleacher Report is currently owned by AEW's broadcast partner, Warner Brothers Discovery.According toa press release issued on September 28, Bleacher Report will hold the global highlight rights to all of WWE's official programming. This includes the company's three weekly shows, "WWE Raw," "WWE SmackDown," and "WWE NXT," as well all Premium Live Events, with the upcoming WWE Money In The Bank event on October 10 being the first PLE to have its highlights distributed across Bleacher Report, B/R Wrestling, and House of Highlights.On top of the weekly highlights, the press release confirmed that Bleacher Report will also have a ringside presence at select WWE PLEs. This will give fans the chance to see exclusive content across Bleacher Report's platforms, as well as talent-driven content and behind-the-scenes footage.Bleacher Report's General Manager, Bennett Spector, had this to say about the agreement: "This partnership gives us the opportunity to bring fans closer to the biggest moments happening today while also tapping into the incredible history and personalities that have made WWE part of sports culture for generations."WWE's Executive Vice-President, Alex Varga, also commented on the deal. "Bleacher Report has long been at the intersection of sports and culture. Our partnership with B/R reinforces WWE's commitment to bringing our content to a global audience."Bleacher Report already has a large portfolio of deals and agreements with a number of high-profile sporting brands, such as the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA. Adding WWE to its portfolio is a way of expanding sports culture, while also focusing on brands and leagues that generate conversation on a weekly basis, a category WWE falls in to as the WWE Superstars have no official off-season.
Given that Bleacher Report is owned by Warner Brothers Discovery, WWE now agreeing a deal with the site has led to one glaring question: what does this mean for AEW?Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select spoke to a WBD source about the deal, who claimed that this may actually be a good thing for All Elite Wrestling in the long-run.The WBD source clarified that this new deal with WWE is another content deal Bleacher Report can sell against and monetize, much like the AEW content WBD has the rights to. WBD are still working very closely with AEW according to the source, who stated that because WBD will have more resources dedicated to wrestling, AEW will likely benefit from the deal WWE has as more eyes will be on the industry.It was also noted that this new deal isn't expected to have any impact on AEW's current media rights deal, which runs through 2027 and potentially 2028 as an added one year option if WBD decides to pick it up. Mike Johnson of PWInsider also had it confirmed to him that AEW's current standing in the WBD wouldn't be affected due to WWE's deal being a global agreement inked by TNT Sports, whereas AEW's media rights deal is on the entertainment side of WBD and is strictly a domestic deal.WBD will be merging with Paramount Skydance in the near future, something that AEW President Tony Khan has expressed a lot of excitement for both publicly and privately, and this new WWE deal shouldn't impact AEW's current position either when that merger is eventually finalized. Paramount have a history of broadcasting wrestling for many years, having aired companies like WWE, TNA, and ECW in the past.
