Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted January 3 Paid Members Share Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said: I think it was a 5 year deal which if so expires the end of this year. It certainly wasn’t doing much for BT Sport in terms of subscribers, I have no idea if they would be interested in re-signing or if they would try and go back to Sky. If they go for a streaming service they could do a global deal for more money. Could it change the game (Not you DAZN) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted January 3 Paid Members Share Posted January 3 18 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: If they go for a streaming service they could do a global deal for more money. Could it change the game (Not you DAZN) Great in theory, but that would only work if multiple deals in other countries came up at the same time. That said, Amazon and FX are two of the main parties looking at Raw, which would be Prime and Disney+ and Disney+ already have some streaming rights in Asia, so they could continue a phased roll out globally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaygoose Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 The stuff with nxt got me thinking. Theres 2 possibilities here. Maybe nxt was always a separate deal and TNT decided not to renew (which indicates where they might be on renewing the others)..  Or worse they actively cancelled NXT I assume because they felt it wasn't offering value for money.. Both point to TNT not renewing.. but I guess time will tell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daaaaaad! Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Again, complete amateur observation with no real insight here but I imagine TNT most likely won't renew if they still have AEW on their US networks by the time the contract is up. The current WWE deal seems to be a remnant from BT Sport and, being as WBD are part owners of the channel, you'd think it would align better with their overall business if they aren't seen to be in bed with the competition should they renew AEW's US deals this year. Whether ITV's AEW deal throws any sort of spanner into the works remains to be seen, I expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I don't think the WBD/WWE/AEW thing is the issue people think it is. After all if you believe all the rumours WBD are still listening to pitches on RAW stateside. The problem that TNT Sports has over here, is the same problem anywhere. Is there value in WWE? It was speculated that Sky wouldn't be willing to pay what they previously did. Which is how they ended up on BT/TNT in the first place. A deal WWE weren't exactly thrilled by which is why they were allowed to do a deal with a Free To Air broadcaster for the highlight packages. The main problem here might be the TNT/Eurosport merger. Don't TNT have 4 channels and Eurosport 2? That's going to get condensed and cherry picking the strongest rights to retain. WWE isn't necessarily needed as a content farm to fill those hours. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaygoose Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Aew have sometimes reffered to themselves as the number one in the UK ratings. Although it's true there's a very big asterisk in the UK. Aew 1st run programming is on freeview / fta. it's how TNA was able to be the number one brand in the UK for a while too. If im WWE I really want that shop window on freeview. Another thing to throw in there.. is if AEW is locked with ITV or if eventually the likes Sky or TNT etc will be looking at those shows.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daaaaaad! Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 4 minutes ago, Infinity Land said: WWE isn't necessarily needed as a content farm to fill those hours. This is a great point, actually. It was surely what saved them on Sky for all those years. Easy programming with minimal effort from the broadcaster. I distinctly remember before the end of Sky's deal that some British 'journalist' (read: wrestling blogger) was on the Observer saying how Sky should ditch WWE and sign RevPro up because they can provide wrestling content at a cheaper price. My response at the time was 'well no, if Sky don't want WWE, they just won't have wrestling any more' and whaddaya know? It's precisely the reason they appealed to Peacock in the first place - could that appeal to Discovery+ perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaygoose Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Google tells me that very scenario WWE via Disney has happened in the Philippines.. So I guess the house of mouse is a possibility. It feels like this fta package was timmed to end while they negotiated the main deal... They can offer said deal that all important "exclusivity" should they wish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Daaaaaad! said: This is a great point, actually. It was surely what saved them on Sky for all those years. Easy programming with minimal effort from the broadcaster. I distinctly remember before the end of Sky's deal that some British 'journalist' (read: wrestling blogger) was on the Observer saying how Sky should ditch WWE and sign RevPro up because they can provide wrestling content at a cheaper price. My response at the time was 'well no, if Sky don't want WWE, they just won't have wrestling any more' and whaddaya know? It's precisely the reason they appealed to Peacock in the first place - could that appeal to Discovery+ perhaps? I have no doubt that WWE would love to sell the Network in the UK/Europe to a streaming partner. Fixed income secured over a number of years. The UK isn't in the best place for it right now: Netflix and Disney+ haven't added sports over here. Which is where WWE typically gets slotted. Amazon have dipped their toe into sports rights but don't seem to have gone for WWE in any international markets that I am aware of. Discovery+ is too small and biding time to be folded into the eventual MAX launch. Sky has a lot of WBD rights until 2025. MAX isn't expected until late 2025 at the earliest over here. Peacock and Paramount+ are far behind their competition in subscribers. Peacock might be a contender due to the Sky channels. As they can bundle streaming and traditional broadcast. DAZN might be the best bet. Just because they've chased WWE programming in every international market they can get it. Edited January 3 by Infinity Land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 55 minutes ago, Infinity Land said: I have no doubt that WWE would love to sell the Network in the UK/Europe to a streaming partner. Fixed income secured over a number of years. The UK isn't in the best place for it right now: Netflix and Disney+ haven't added sports over here. Which is where WWE typically gets slotted. Amazon have dipped their toe into sports rights but don't seem to have gone for WWE in any international markets that I am aware of. Discovery+ is too small and biding time to be folded into the eventual MAX launch. Sky has a lot of WBD rights until 2025. MAX isn't expected until late 2025 at the earliest over here. Peacock and Paramount+ are far behind their competition in subscribers. Peacock might be a contender due to the Sky channels. As they can bundle streaming and traditional broadcast. DAZN might be the best bet. Just because they've chased WWE programming in every international market they can get it. Peacock is winding down in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 4 Paid Members Share Posted January 4 12 hours ago, Infinity Land said: Netflix and Disney+ haven't added sports over here. Which is where WWE typically gets slotted. As far as I know, neither has any live content whatsoever. And that's what WWE's main selling point is to a streaming partner - the video library and IP are a strong bonus, but the main attraction is having live appointment viewing, and that's not currently the Disney+ or Netflix model. I don't know if there's any talk of them trying to move in that direction, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaygoose Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 hmm live content.. is amazon a possibility Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUM Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 12 hours ago, BomberPat said: As far as I know, neither has any live content whatsoever. And that's what WWE's main selling point is to a streaming partner - the video library and IP are a strong bonus, but the main attraction is having live appointment viewing, and that's not currently the Disney+ or Netflix model. I don't know if there's any talk of them trying to move in that direction, though. I don’t know about Netflix but Disney own multiple live TV channels like FX. There’s always a chance a deal could be done with Disney to put the on demand stuff on Disney+ and the live shows on the TV channels. Believe this was the potential chat in the US of what could happen at the end of the Peacock deal a while back too so no reason it couldn’t happen over here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 8 hours ago, FUM said: I don’t know about Netflix but Disney own multiple live TV channels like FX. There’s always a chance a deal could be done with Disney to put the on demand stuff on Disney+ and the live shows on the TV channels. Believe this was the potential chat in the US of what could happen at the end of the Peacock deal a while back too so no reason it couldn’t happen over here. Is FX even a thing in the UK anymore? Don't think its on VirginMedia anymore at least. I remember it being shuttered because of the The Walking Dead being put on Disney+. Only the National Geographic type channels I can think of that fall under their umbrella. The deal with BT Sports had on the ESPN branding lapsed not long ago. Which is why there is some speculation that an ESPN hub will be introduced eventually. Makes sense since its included in a lot of international markets. Problem is they have no sports rights in the UK, no need to rush in that case.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUM Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, Infinity Land said: Is FX even a thing in the UK anymore? Don't think its on VirginMedia anymore at least. Seems you’re right, ended in 2021. Probably shows me up for how little I actually watch TV channels as opposed to on demand content these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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