AEW's future could be in danger with WarnerMedia slashing costs

AEW's future could be in danger now with WarnerMedia slashing costs.

Following the announcement of the formation of AEW by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, with Tony Khan as the president was one of the biggest announcements made in the world of wrestling for a long time. However, another announcement, when it came, shook up the entire wrestling world once again, the same year that AEW was formed.

AEW announced that they had signed a television deal with TNT and would not be broadcast every week on Wednesday nights. This was a huge moment in the wrestling community for hardcore fans of wrestling who wanted something fresh other than the WWE product.

That was exactly what AEW promised to be — something fresh and new — and it could be said that is exactly what they have delivered on a weekly basis.

Putting aside the product itself, the ratings that AEW Dynamite has hit every week was far higher than initial expectations, and thus, the news that TNT had signed a long-term contract with AEW to broadcast their product, with the possibility for a second weekly show as well, was a huge one, but not particularly surprising.

Now, however, all of that might be in danger.

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AEW possibly set to be affected by WarnerMedia's reported 20% cost-cuts

WarnerMedia is reportedly set to cut costs by 20% in an effort to restructure during the pandemic, which could possibly end up with literal thousands of jobs lost.

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer has reported that Time Warner has been affected with its move business thanks to the closure of theatres. With that the lack of cable subscriptions and a drop in advertising revenue, they have been affected negatively.

AEW airs on the Time Warner property TNT. The overhaul of the corporation will include TBS, TNT, and HBO, with thousands of layoffs.

Currently, AEW is in a seemingly strong position thanks to the ratings holding up in the middle of the pandemic, but Meltzer has noted that it will never be the chief priority ahead of Baseball and Basketball. This could end up affecting the rights fee that they would have to pay, which will hurt AEW Dynamite.

Readers can also check out Sportskeeda's interview with Tony Schiavone where he talks about AEW competing with WWE.

The chief voice of AEW in TNT, Kevin Reilly, left the company in August and that was a big blow for the wrestling promotions. Back in 2001, after restructuring Time Warner, the decision was made to cancel WCW, which led to WWE buying the company. This time, AEW is very different from WCW and is owned by Tony Khan's family.

However, AEW fans could expect that there will still be some impact from the restructuring over the new few years.