By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE’s streaming partner has taken a big step toward acquiring a portion of AEW’s media rights partner. Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery and will now enter exclusive negotiations to finalize the deal. Deadline reports that Netflix offered around $28 per share for WBD, topping the bids entered by Paramount and Comcast. The Netflix bid is for Warner Bros. studio and the HBO Max streaming service, whereas Paramount was seeking to acquire the entire company. Read the full story at Deadline.com.
Powell’s POV: Paramount isn’t going down with a fight. They claim that the bidding was slanted in favor of Netflix, and stated in a letter to WBD that the other two bidders would have trouble getting regulators to sign off on the deal. While there’s no telling what all of this means for AEW long term, it should be business as usual for the time being, as deals of this magnitude typically take a lot of time to complete.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)