AEW, WBD Deny Claims AEW Was Given ‘Heads Up’ About WBD Sale

Warner Bros. Discovery and AEW have both denied claims that WBD gave AEW a heads up about the latter company’s sale. There were claims floating around social media over the past week that the promotion had been informed that WBD would not be exercising option year for 2028 in their media rights deal. The deal between the two sides runs through 2027 with the option year a possibility.

John McCullen posted a story on Twitter citing a claim by agent Nick LoPiccolo that AEW was told in advance about the sale of WBD in order for AEW to develop a “contingency plan” if the new owners decided not to pick up the option. Both companies issued statements that run counter to those claims, with the article noting:

“Both AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery have refuted multiple industry sources’ claims that Warner Bros. Discovery informed Tony Khan and AEW in the summer of 2025 that the plan was for WBD to be sold and others would be making decisions on further programming.

“The idea by sources outside AEW that WBD CEO David Zaslav personally informed Khan that a sale was coming was vehemently denied, with the explanation that no showrunners were informed, including Khan.”

The report notes that the initial claims was were misunderstood in part because the first report came from LoPiccolo, who has been vocally hostile to Khan and his company. However, the report was not an inherently negative piece of news toward them because it is simply “common sense” that once WBD is sold, they will no longer be the ones making decisions on AEW programming going forward.

WBD of course entered into a merger agreement with Paramount Skydance earlier this year after a rather dramatic bidding war with Netflix. That deal, which was approved by shareholders at the end of last month, is set to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. AEW will have roughly 12–16 months to secure a new media rights deal, either with Paramount Skydance or somewhere else.