Could AEW be streaming on MAX with new sports tier?
AEW has been offering its pay-per-view events through Warner Bros Discovery's B/R Live platform in the United States along with traditional cable TV services, cinemas, and other outlets like FITE TV internationally.
Since its launch in 2019, wrestling fans faithful to AEW have been paying $50 or more to watch the company's pay-per-view events like All In, All Out, Double Or Nothing, Full Gear, and more. This price tends to be the norm in North America on most pay-per-view services.
Though pay-per-view events are still quite normal, pro wrestling fans have gotten conditioned in recent years to industry leader WWE offering its premium live events, such as WrestleMania, through a subscription streaming service at a flat monthly rate.
In 2014, WWE launched its game-changing WWE Network subscription service. The company signed a lucrative exclusive agreement with NBC Universal's Peacock in 2021 to stream premium events along with its massive on-demand video library and exclusive special documentaries. That deal proved to be highly successful for WWE, with the biggest matches of the year reaching even wider audiences in the United States outside of the pay-per-view model they had transitioned away from.
A new report from Deadline reveals that the streaming add-on, which will carry the Bleacher Report branding, will launch on October 5 at $10 a month. This would be in time for select portions of the MLB playoffs. No charge will be assessed to existing Max subscribers until next February 29 – right before the anticipated NCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament.
Could AEW premium events go to MAX?
Unlike the now-defunct streaming service B/R Live, which operated similarly to pay-per-view, the new add-on will only be available as part of a Max subscription. Could All Elite Wrestling benefit from this media move by its biggest business partner in WBD?
Sports Business Journal reports today that AEW is currently not a part of the new sports tier on MAX, but with the wrestling company's television contract soon to be renewed, there's no telling whether that will remain the case.
WBD President David Zaslav has praised All Elite Wrestling and its contributions to the broadcast media giant's output, according directly to AEW President Tony Khan. So it is not completely unlikely that we'll see the stars of Dynamite and Collision streaming with the likes of Batman, Superman, and other known characters.