Tony Khan Says It’s ‘Not Legal’ To Air AEW Dynamite Live Internationally

During the AEW All In media call (via Fightful), Tony Khan explained why Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite aired on tape delay and said it wouldn’t be legal to air it live. This was due to Warner Bros. Discovery having a right to the first airing of the show.

He said: “It’s not legal for me to put the show on live in the UK before I put it on for the people that pay 97% of the TV rights fees in Warner Brothers Discovery. They have earned the first right of airing the show and they have the legal first right to air the show. I can’t put Dynamite on anywhere before it airs on TBS and TNT, nor should I. TBS and TNT have been a great home to us. FITE has had at times issues in the stream of the show. I would love to do the show at some point, if possible, on ITV and put the show, ideally, on at the same time it’s on TBS and TNT,” continued Khan. “I just can’t jumpstart our primary media partner. In pro wrestling, those TV rights are a huge component of the business and really drives a lot of the revenue, along with huge tentpole events like AEW All In. Ideally, what I would like to do, is simulcast it, but that would still be very late here. It’s a 1 AM start, that’s not ideal.“