UPDATE: WWE Reportedly Interested in Purchasing FITE TV, FITE Denies Rumors

UPDATE: That didn’t take long. While the Wrestling Observer reported last night that WWE was interested in purchasing FITE TV, it seems that FITE themselves are denying the story.

In a post on Twitter responding to another website’s report on the story, they wrote: “No worries, FITE is here to stay! :)… and no, we are not in M&A discussions with WWE.”

No worries, FITE is here to stay! :)… and no, we are not in M&A discussions with WWE

— FITE (@FiteTV) August 9, 2019

Original: WWE is said to be interested in purchasing FITE TV, according to a new report. The WON reports that the company’s interest is sincere enough that there are upcoming meetings about the possibility. FITE currently functions as the streaming home for a number of MMA, boxing and wrestling companies, notably including AEW. They just announced on Thursday that they are partnering with MLW to distribute the promotion’s PPVs worldwide.

It is worth noting that just because WWE is interested doesn’t mean that FITE’s owners will will be interested in selling, or that WWE will find the deal ultimately worth pursuing. It isn’t clear exactly what this would mean if WWE did buy it, as they could simply run it as a separate entity or fold it into a higher-tiered version of the WWE Network among other possibilities. It would obviously have a big impact on the independent companies that have deals with FITE for distribution, and would almost certainly leave AEW without their services. AEW also airs on B/R Live though, and they could also partner with another streaming partner.