More On Netflix Buying Warner Bros: Buying Price, What It May Mean For AEW

Netflix has announced its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and new details about the purchase have been revealed including what it may mean for AEW. As reported late Thursday, Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. Netflix and WBD officially announced the sale on Friday morning for $82.7 billion. That breaks down to $27.75 per share for the studio.

Reuters reports that the deal includes a $5.8 billion “breakup fee.” In other words, if the deal fails to close due to regulatory or other concerns, Netflix will pay the $5.8 billion price regardless.

As was noted last night, Paramount made several aggressive bids but was ultimately outmatched, even while sending letters to WBD in the 24 hours preceding the close of the bidding process blasting its competitors. It is believed Paramount will try to make an end run around the WBD board and appeal to shareholders. The argument is, as previously noted, Paramoutn believes that they have the best chance of winning approval from regulatory bodies.

In regard to said regulatory bodies, a couple of notes. First, the FCC will not be involved in this matter. Because WBD is spinning off its cable stations (including TBS, TNT, CNN, HGTV, Cartoon Network and more) into a new company, there are no television licenses to worry about. The deal will need to pass muster with the Department of Justice, who handle antitrust concerns. The Netflix & WBD deal will also need to pass regulatory approval with the European Union. Deadline reports that EU regulators are unlikely to block it, but may impose conditions such as compelling Netflix to honor maintain film and TV licensing agreements in order to avoid monopoly concerns.

How The Deal May Affect AEW

When it comes to AEW, there’s a lot that is up in the air. Again: as previously reported, WBD’s cable stations will be spun off into Discovery Global. Netflix is acquiring the Studios & Streaming side which include Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, as well as their legendary film and television libraries.

The most important thing for the immediate future: not much will change. Netflix announced that the Discovery Global spin-off will complete in Q3 of 2026. That’s roughly nine months from now. At that point, the closing process on the deal will begin. Depending on how difficult the regulatory process is, that could take a while. And given how theater owners, politicians, and the Writers Guild of America are reacting, the regulatory process could indeed be drawn out. (It should also be noted, however, that the guilds, politicians, and theater owners opposed a Paramount acquisition too.)

All of this becomes more clear when we remember that AEW’s deal with WBD runs through 2027. Essentially, if the regulatory process takes long enough, AEW’s current deal could be done by then. Less clear is its fate beyond that. WBD has an option to extend AEW’s deal to 2028, but the regulatory process could go even past that if it’s messy enough.

With TNT & TBS going to Discovery Global, AEW is in no danger of any conflict with WWE — who are a media partner of Netflix’s — in terms of their cable broadcasts. However, HBO Max is heading to Netflix as part of the deal. If HBO Max remains a separate entity, there’s less concern there. Tony Khan has said that HBO Max gets a percentage of AEW’s PPV revenue, so business-wise there is reason for WBD (and thus Netflix) to want to keep it. However, as the WON reports, if the two services become integrated things get messier. Netflix has shown more interest in “event” style live events than weekly live programming, outside of WWE Raw.

It is also worth noting that Discovery Global has reportedly been planning a TNT Sports app after the it splits off from Warner Bros. The WON notes that if AEW ended up on that app, they would lose potential audience members because of HBO Max’s size. As of now, it’s not clear whether that will happen.

The TL;DR here is that things are very up in the air right now, but for the time being (and perhaps at least until the end of AEW’s deal with WBD), nothing is expected to change for AEW. What happens after 2027 is far, far too early to say.