All Elite Wrestling launched in 2019 and the pro wrestling company has been on Warner Bros. Discovery channels TNT and TBS since. One thing AEW doesn’t have yet is a streaming home for its ever-increasing library, and while potential ideas have been speculated, it’s now reported that AEW might possibly stay in-house and launch their own streaming service.
Inside a longform profile of AEW CEO Tony Khan, Bloomberg revealed that “a person familiar with management’s thinking” told them the pro wrestling company is “considering” having their own streaming service to house their library.
In March, Khan acquired the small but respected pro wrestling company Ring of Honor from Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. for an undisclosed sum, adding a new crop of wrestlers, some intellectual property and an extensive video library. AEW is also considering starting a streaming service, likely through a deal with its broadcast partner, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to a person familiar with management’s thinking, who asked not to be named. Last year, AEW broke $100 million in annual revenue for the first time, the person says.
AEW’s current weekly setup is Dynamite on TNT, Rampage on TBS, Dark and Dark: Elevation on YouTube, and four or five pay-per-views on Bleacher Report. Needless to say, after nearly four years of developing content, AEW’s library is growing.
In buying Ring of Honor, Khan already has Honor Club as a streaming service. Honor Club houses Ring of Honor content from the past 20 years and features some of the best stars before they went to WWE or AEW, along with a weekly show starting up at some point.
I’m sure AEW is holding out hope to find a home on HBO Max or something and maybe attract casual wrestling fans who discover AEW while looking for another show or movie. But if AEW is considering having their own streaming service, would it make sense to combine both libraries on an already functional Honor Club app than building a totally separate service? Either way, AEW fans have been wanting a place where they can watch past content from AEW shows, and they will keep that up until it actually happens.
