Deal agreed between the US based pro-wrestling organisation and the sports broadcasting giant
American professional wrestling company AEW, otherwise known as All Elite Wrestling, will now be available to fans in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands as of today on ESPN.
A new deal between the two, which kicks into gear today, sees exclusive broadcast rights to AEW go to ESPN in the Oceanic region. As of today, 16 February, ESPN will broadcast live AEW matches and other related content to customers.
The agreement marks a first for both parties as AEW signs its first broadcast deal in Oceania and ESPN begins a first agreement with a wrestling promotion in that region.
It's no surprise to see AEW branching out into more territories as the upstart promotion claims to have achieved "record-high ratings" since it emerged as a challenger to longtime monopoly WWE in January 2019.
The company, headed by Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham executive Tony Khan, has gained momentum in the past three years, acquiring marquee talent like Bryan Danielson and CM Punk, and cultivating a loyal fanbase built around a crop of exciting, young homegrown talent.
AEW said in a statenent:
“Each week on ESPN, fans in the region can catch all the action on AEW: DYNAMITE on Thursday AEDT, and AEW: RAMPAGE on Saturday AEDT, with same-day replays and episodes made available on-demand.
“In addition, through ESPN, fans will have access to all of AEW’s quarterly pay-per-view events on delay: REVOLUTION, DOUBLE OR NOTHING, ALL OUT and FULL GEAR.”
This latest move sees the wrestling organisation continue to grow its global audience as it attempts to compete with the juggernaut that is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
With Oceania being considered a key market for TV in the world or pro-wrestling, this deal with ESPN represents a minor coup for AEW as they build towards their next big pay-per-view AEW Revolution on 5th March.
Airtime for their weekly TV shows AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage should help attract more wrestling fans from Australia, New Zealand the Pacific Islands to check out the product and perhaps buy the pay-per-view.
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