General AEW Thread

[Canadian Dragon]

Wrestlenomics Radio: Notes from Thurston's comments on AEW and WWE rights fees in the next round.​

Source: https://wrestlenomics.com/podcast/
On yesterday's Wrestlenomics Radio, Brandon Thurston spent about 90 minutes exploring the TV Rights landscape for WWE and AEW in the wake of the Warner/Discovery merger. Here are some of the notable points he makes:

• Thurston states that he actually doesn't think AEW got ANY extra money for moving to TBS. He thinks that the Battle of the Belts special was the only thing that Warner gave them for the move
• Thurston thinks that Warnermedia actually has a minority ownership stake in AEW and doubts they'll go elsewhere.
• Brandon commented on Dave's pessimism towards AEW's future in their ability to get a big rights increase, and doubled-down and stated once again that he thinks AEW getting a 3x rights increase is a realistic outcome. In fact, he actually made an argument that they probably deserve a 5x rights increase.
• He firmly believes that WWE will get around a 1.5x rights increase. He explained his reasoning in detail and stated that Morgan Stanley made a similar projection.
• He stated that it appears that WWE likely has higher ad rates because even though AEW and WWE have similar ads, WWE notably has car commercials, while AEW does not at this time.

EDIT: Adding this one in too.

• Thurston also ran down every major media company and the likelihood of them making a play for WWE or AEW content. In terms of potential alternatives for AEW, basically all of them would be a "downgrade in reach and viewership", but there are definitely media players (both TV and streaming) that could certainly make a play for AEW and offer a money deal in the next round since they've established a short track record.

meltzer should leave the speculation of tv deals to the experts, ill just say that

here comes the money for aew it seems (and wwe ofc!)

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Guess Stu Grayson is done. Been removed from Roster page

 

[Chris]

Guess Stu Grayson is done. Been removed from Roster page

Damn what the fuck

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Damn what the fuck

Yeah. This one is one I’ll question Tony on if he ain’t re-sign him.. unless Stu wanted out.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Could hopefully be a mistake

 

[Bad News Booty]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Canadian Dragon]

 

[Apoho Creed]

Stu had enough a good while ago and I can't blame him if you don't see any opportunities for you why stay.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Yeah im bummed. I get why he might want to move on and why aew may be ok with letting him go. Still , hes from my hometown so it sucks.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

If he's going, he would be a great addition to impact n njpw strong as a singles guy. I doubt uno is going anywhere. He does youtube n office stuff

 

[Hoss]

Yeah that is tough. Stu has plenty of skill. Might be a blessing in disguise for him if he goes on to prove himself as a legit singles guy somewhere else though.

 

[Hoss]

Right off the bat I'm thinking Grayson vs. Alexander would rule ass. I'm sure it's happened at some point but obviously a bigger stage and higher stakes would elevate it even more.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Yeah that is tough. Stu has plenty of skill. Might be a blessing in disguise for him if he goes on to prove himself as a legit singles guy somewhere else though.

Im thinking the same thing. He needs a fresh coat of paint n he has the in ring talent to be a solo guy.

 

[CakeWalker]

Player Uno & Player Dos not being together - is like splitting up Mario and Luigi

 

[Apoho Creed]

Right off the bat I'm thinking Grayson vs. Alexander would rule ass. I'm sure it's happened at some point but obviously a bigger stage and higher stakes would elevate it even more.

Wouldn't mind that at all how about the newest VBD Member

Help the dude get some momentum going if he goes there.