New TV Deal (WBD losing NBA? p.63)

[Mecca]

May 15, 2024 14:58:12 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Honestly even if they have to eat a bit of a loss on the PPVs (though granted you don't want too much of one) it'd probably be worth it just for the potential heightened visibility, especially with the Disney thing coming up. People who only watch WWE but have a Disney+ account hearing, "Oh man, you have to see this match," could do a lot for them in terms of growth.

I have an incredibly hard time spending 50 dollars on a show in the world we live in, if I'm being totally honest.

[polarbearpete]

May 15, 2024 14:55:37 GMT -5 Mecca said:

May 15, 2024 14:47:31 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

A billion over the life of a deal makes sense, especially if PPVs are getting folded in as well. Right now, I think they’re estimated to be getting around $80-90 million per year from WBD for the 5 hours of programming a week. An increase of that is to be expected. Then add in any payment for PPV would probably need to be $30-40 million per year to be worth it to AEW and they’re probably nearing $150 to $200 million per year for a likely 5 plus year term.

It'll still be increasingly hard to come off like you know anything when a supposed dead company is getting a big pay bump.

Has he said they’re a dead company? I haven’t really followed him much

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

May 15, 2024 15:19:35 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

May 15, 2024 14:55:37 GMT -5 Mecca said:

It'll still be increasingly hard to come off like you know anything when a supposed dead company is getting a big pay bump.

Has he said they’re a dead company? I haven’t really followed him much

Bischoff has said some very outlandish things about AEW lately, coming off extremely bitter, spiteful, and jealous tbh

So I wouldn't be surprised.

[eJm]

I’ll only be bitter about PPVs go to Max because we here in Ireland haven’t gotten it yet and I’ll still be relying on Triller and AEW Plus.

So obviously that means I don’t want any of you Americans to get it! 😡

[Kalmia]

This billion dollar TV deal is going to be the new stick to hit AEW over the head with, isn't it? Can't get a million for Dynamite on TV, can't get a billion for the new TV deal, AEW in the mud!

[markymark]

[Zombie Mod]

May 14, 2024 16:58:53 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

May 14, 2024 16:42:50 GMT -5 jb80 said:

I am a beloved member of this community and please don't call my posts bullshit.

Until you show proof of EC3/Kevin Kelly nudes your posts will forever be bullshit lmfao

I'm telling you this publicly, never do this again. this also goes for everyone do not call other posters posts "bullshit"

[UN PLOMBIER NIGHTMARE #blm]

i'm just sad that inside the nba will be over. that entire league is not the same without that cast.

[khali]

Every time this thread gains new pages I’m hoping it’s because the TV deal got signed and we no longer gotta hear as much nonsense. Alas.

[HMARK Center]

May 15, 2024 21:30:26 GMT -5 khali said:

Every time this thread gains new pages I’m hoping it’s because the TV deal got signed and we no longer gotta hear as much nonsense. Alas.

Probably gonna be waiting until August for everything to be announced.

Gonna be a long few months of nonsense until then, unfortunately.

[Lizuka #BLM]

The only way I can see a deal being announced before August is if Warner pays them out the ass. It's not in AEW's best interests to sign anything right now unless it's just a deal they can't possibly get from anyone else.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

TK isn't perfect by any means but he seems to be good at developing strong trust when doing business with others. WBD has changed a ton over the years (it didn't even exist in this form when AEW started) and he has managed to navigate all of that and come out with a strong partnership that seemingly is on the verge of growing even further.

[Tiger Millionaire]

May 15, 2024 15:39:28 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

May 15, 2024 15:19:35 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Has he said they’re a dead company? I haven’t really followed him much

Bischoff has said some very outlandish things about AEW lately, coming off extremely bitter, spiteful, and jealous tbh

So I wouldn't be surprised.

Wait, you aren't telling me that we maybe shouldn't listen to the guy who had his last decent idea 28 years ago and is just running a grift to pay off bankruptcy as a trusted voice?

[dbsot]

May 15, 2024 21:32:15 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

May 15, 2024 21:30:26 GMT -5 khali said:

Every time this thread gains new pages I’m hoping it’s because the TV deal got signed and we no longer gotta hear as much nonsense. Alas.

Probably gonna be waiting until August for everything to be announced.

Gonna be a long few months of nonsense until then, unfortunately.

My feeling is that the deal gets announced in July. If WBD is interested in moving the PPVs to Max, then they will want to maximize that by showcasing All In and All Out in back-to-back weekends.

Also, when AEW added TrillerTV as a PPV option, they offered a bundle of Dynasty, DoN and Forbidden Door. I think there is a reason they didn't include All In. 

[salz4life]

May 15, 2024 9:07:31 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

This is gonna go right up to the end of the exclusive window with WBD. Too much going on, doesn't make sense for WBD to commit big to a Upper C/Lower B Tier brand until they know where they are at with the A and B Tier brands. WNBA could be a gamechanger here, do Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have the star power and support to firmly establish WNBA as a TV draw? Suddenly they might be a viable TV draw with a $100-150 million a year TV rights, which will end up looking like a bargain if the sport continues to grow. If WBD is serious about wanting to get big in the PPV business, UFC is a logical target. And UFC has so much shoulder programming you can fill a TONNE of airtime with them. AEW really isn't high priority right now until the dust settles on everything else

In my opinion, the best thing that could happen for AEW (Assuming NBA is going to NBC) is WBD gets the WNBA rights which gives them a strong set of anchors for the channel (WNBA, NHL, March Madness) while still needing to lean on AEW quite a bit to keep the network looking strong. UFC being shoulder to shoulder with AEW could potentially be good too, but there is the TKO factor. I don't think UFC/WWE/TKO would f*** with AEW if they ended up on the same channel, TKO just paid out like $400 million in an anti trust lawsuit and I doubt they wanna see something like that again with WWE, plus Dana and TK are actually on incredibly good terms, but that risk would be there.


EDIT: WNBA rights being up after this season is a true wild card right now. Even if ratings records continue to get smashed all season, the rights fees will only increase so much based on one or two seasons. Everyone looking for sports properties should be closely monitoring that situation, because there is massive potential for that to be a very network friendly contract.

I've already watched more WNBA than I ever have and it was only about a quarter or two in Caitlyn Clark's debut and then again with Angel Reese and Chicago. I'm guessing I'm not the only one. I think it's possible they could be a gamechanger, you're right. I know they are on Prime, CBS Sports Net, Ion and then occasionally on ESPN/ABC. Are they (or does the NBA help with this) putting another package up for bid now or is it going to be in another year or two?

[salz4life]

May 15, 2024 11:08:51 GMT -5 eJm said:

So the new show was, in fact, an online show exclusive to TBS’ YouTube which could be the spiritual successor to Dinner and a Movie.

EDIT: And Eddie Kingston’s the first guest!

I actually think that's a good idea and Eddie is probably the best first guest.

[salz4life]

May 15, 2024 15:39:28 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

May 15, 2024 15:19:35 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Has he said they’re a dead company? I haven’t really followed him much

Bischoff has said some very outlandish things about AEW lately, coming off extremely bitter, spiteful, and jealous tbh

So I wouldn't be surprised.

He has, but I don't think he's used the term "dead company". That's mostly the trolls on Twitter.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

May 16, 2024 10:38:31 GMT -5 dbsot said:

May 15, 2024 21:32:15 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Probably gonna be waiting until August for everything to be announced.

Gonna be a long few months of nonsense until then, unfortunately.

My feeling is that the deal gets announced in July. If WBD is interested in moving the PPVs to Max, then they will want to maximize that by showcasing All In and All Out in back-to-back weekends.

Also, when AEW added TrillerTV as a PPV option, they offered a bundle of Dynasty, DoN and Forbidden Door. I think there is a reason they didn't include All In. 

Yeah, when they announced plans for only those 3 PPV’s all signs were definitely pointing to a deal with Max.

May 16, 2024 12:14:14 GMT -5 salz4life said:

May 15, 2024 9:07:31 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

This is gonna go right up to the end of the exclusive window with WBD. Too much going on, doesn't make sense for WBD to commit big to a Upper C/Lower B Tier brand until they know where they are at with the A and B Tier brands. WNBA could be a gamechanger here, do Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have the star power and support to firmly establish WNBA as a TV draw? Suddenly they might be a viable TV draw with a $100-150 million a year TV rights, which will end up looking like a bargain if the sport continues to grow. If WBD is serious about wanting to get big in the PPV business, UFC is a logical target. And UFC has so much shoulder programming you can fill a TONNE of airtime with them. AEW really isn't high priority right now until the dust settles on everything else

In my opinion, the best thing that could happen for AEW (Assuming NBA is going to NBC) is WBD gets the WNBA rights which gives them a strong set of anchors for the channel (WNBA, NHL, March Madness) while still needing to lean on AEW quite a bit to keep the network looking strong. UFC being shoulder to shoulder with AEW could potentially be good too, but there is the TKO factor. I don't think UFC/WWE/TKO would f*** with AEW if they ended up on the same channel, TKO just paid out like $400 million in an anti trust lawsuit and I doubt they wanna see something like that again with WWE, plus Dana and TK are actually on incredibly good terms, but that risk would be there.


EDIT: WNBA rights being up after this season is a true wild card right now. Even if ratings records continue to get smashed all season, the rights fees will only increase so much based on one or two seasons. Everyone looking for sports properties should be closely monitoring that situation, because there is massive potential for that to be a very network friendly contract.

I've already watched more WNBA than I ever have and it was only about a quarter or two in Caitlyn Clark's debut and then again with Angel Reese and Chicago. I'm guessing I'm not the only one. I think it's possible they could be a gamechanger, you're right. I know they are on Prime, CBS Sports Net, Ion and then occasionally on ESPN/ABC. Are they (or does the NBA help with this) putting another package up for bid now or is it going to be in another year or two?

I had never watched a WNBA game until Tuesday when I was switching between NHL and WNBA, and had never watched any Women’s NCAAB until I watched 3-4 Iowa games this year. You’re absolutely not the only one.

As for the WNBA contract, I believe the rights expire after this season because they’re tied into NBA rights but they’re looking to parlay this popularity boost into their own rights deal at a significant money increase. But next season could still be under season as well, with the WNBA regular season running during playoffs and offseason for NBA I’m not 100% how it works timing wise

[markymark]

[polarbearpete]

May 22, 2024 8:26:41 GMT -5 markymark said:

To clarify, there are still more steps to be taken, per Sports Business Journal:

The final tweaks -- which sources said have been fluid and changing almost every other day -- are expected to be finalized in the coming days or week, at which time sources said all three networks will go to their respective boards to have the written bids ratified. At that point, sources said the league will take NBC's contract to WBD to see if WBD CEO David Zaslav is able to match it in "total value."

Considering WBD is $40B in debt and does not have the over-the-air infrastructure of NBC, sources believe WBD would need to pay more than $2.6B to match the deal and that NBC's overall bid could be structured in a way (for example, multiple weekly over-the-air games) that makes it virtually impossible for WBD to equal. Sources said Zaslav would then essentially have three choices: pass on the NBA, drastically overpay for the "B" package or take the NBA to court over the definition of a match.