DAZN drops AEW
April 29, 2024
DAZN, the sports streaming platform, ended its contract with AEW after the wrestling company’s content reportedly drew “underperforming numbers”.
A three year deal included the option to terminate the contract after one year – a condition which DAZN chose to exercise when the content was quietly dropped on December 31st 2023.
The deal covered some 42 markets across Europe and Asia, and featured a significant amount of AEW output, including Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, Dark, Battle of the Belts events, and a number of annual pay-per-views. Only a few events – such as All In 2023 held in London last summer and first few episodes of Saturday night show AEW Collision – are said to have met (or exceeded) the desired viewing figures.
Steven Muehlhausen, a sports writer who previously ran the wrestling social side for DAZN, noted on social media platform X that he felt DAZN didn’t significantly promote the product enough, or give it a fair shot, writing: “DAZN NEVER gave wrestling even 5 percent of the budget given to boxing and MMA which to me was a shame as wrestling had a real shot at DAZN but besides me and the news team, it never got the opportunity it deserved”.
AEW currently has a streaming deal in place with Triller TV in various international markets, and also airs its weekly shows on ITV4 in the UK.