Huge Streaming Trend Could Affect WWE & AEW Business Deals Next Year

AEW has improved quite a lot over the past three years, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. The topic of streaming deals for AEW continues to be discussed even now. In fact, a huge streaming trend could affect AEW’s business deals.

As reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Thursday night NFL games on Amazon Prime are performing at almost the same level in the 18-49 demo that the Monday night games do on ESPN.

Dave Meltzer noted that this trend is important as the key audience for AEW and WWE could just as easily be kept busy on Amazon Prime at a level comparable to TV networks.

“A very important note as it relates to WWE and AEW business deals in 2023 is that the Thursday night NFL games on Amazon Prime are doing almost the same in 18-49 that the Monday games do on ESPN.

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“ESPN does far more total viewers because of the over 50 audiences, as would be expected, but it tells you that if you are AEW or WWE you will get your key audience if you move to Amazon Prime which was the scary part of a move to streaming.

“Before the fear was that making such a move if they paid more would hurt you due to less viewership and both companies need the most viewers possible for live shows, merchandise and public perception.

In something that could affect both WWE and AEW with next year’s negotiations, it is confirmed Netflix is looking at getting into live sports. People have talked about this for years.

“Nick Khan had talked about things behind-the-scenes happening that he thought meant it would happen. Media reports this week from the Wall Street Journal and Deadline noted that Netflix had talks about purchasing the World Surf League and broadcasting its events, as well as several tennis tour events.

“A quote from a Netflix insider said, “Sports is the baseline now, we all know it, and finding the right properties, the right leagues is a priority, but it is always a question of the right league, the right deal.”

The entertainment landscape continues to shift all the time as one company buys another, creating an endless media conglomeration. Only time will tell which entity will own the networks in question in ten years from now. That being said, WWE and AEW are dealing with the ever-changing environment as they prepare for new distribution deals.

We will have to wait and see whether AEW and WWE will end up getting affected by this new idea or not. Fans might not be happy about this either.

What’s your take on pulling the plug and moving to streaming? Sound off in the comments!