MLW’s Court Bauer Unlocks Veeps Partnership: Wrestling’s Streaming Future Revealed

• Major League Wrestling (MLW)’s partnership with Veeps, backed by Live Nation, strategically counters prevalent ‘subscription fatigue’ by offering free access, aiming for broad audience growth in a paywalled streaming market.
• This alliance grants MLW access to Live Nation’s extensive global infrastructure, including ticketing, touring logistics, and marketing, providing a significant competitive advantage and opening avenues for diversified revenue beyond traditional media rights.
• The planned integration of music culture with wrestling events creates unique cross-promotional opportunities, targeting new demographics and potentially setting a precedent for multi-platform entertainment strategies in niche sports.

In an increasingly fragmented and costly digital entertainment landscape, Major League Wrestling (MLW) is charting a contrarian course, leveraging a strategic partnership with Veeps, the live streaming platform majority-owned by Live Nation. This alliance, announced earlier this week, positions MLW as a disruptor in the sports and entertainment streaming wars, opting for a ‘free-to-view’ model on Veeps and YouTube, a stark contrast to the escalating paywalls seen across premium sports and content subscriptions. This move signals a deliberate market strategy by MLW to cultivate a broader audience base and enhance brand visibility without imposing additional financial burdens on consumers grappling with ‘subscription fatigue’.

“MLW Fusion” is set to debut on Veeps this Saturday with a loaded lineup of professional wrestling. By remaining free, MLW bypasses the need for fans to acquire yet another streaming service – a move designed to resonate with price-sensitive consumers and those saturated with subscription options.

MLW CEO Court Bauer articulated this strategy succinctly in an interview with FOX Business, drawing a direct parallel to the NFL’s increasingly costly distribution model. “I’m a huge sports fan so as we’ve kinda seen the streaming evolution unfold, it feels like you’re kinda paying tolls as you go from game-to-game,” Bauer explained. His critique resonates deeply within the current economic climate, where household budgets are scrutinized, and the aggregate cost of multiple streaming services – from Netflix price hikes to the numerous sports-specific platforms like ESPN+ and Peacock – can quickly exceed $100 per month. This ‘subscription fatigue’ is a well-documented market phenomenon, influencing consumer behavior and prompting many to ‘churn’ between services or consolidate their entertainment spending. By offering ‘MLW Fusion’ free on Veeps, MLW aims to capitalize on this market discontent, positioning itself as an accessible, high-value alternative to the prevailing paywall trend.

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“You might need this subscription to follow that game and that subscription to get that game and now you need a certain subscription to get that exclusive Christmas game. Then, you start looking at what it costs. It’s no longer $9.99 a month. Some of these services are $30 a month. And it’s all right, Netflix is 30 (on some plans), ESPN is 30 and you start to look at it and it’s like, I think we live in a subscription fatigue era where you can subscribe to toothpaste and exotic candy bars from Japan and get them every month and I think everyone starts to look at their bill and say, ‘Yeah I think I’m a little bit over all of these subscriptions,’” Bauer continued, providing a compelling argument for MLW’s counter-cyclical approach.

“So, I’ve always felt like YouTube is kinda at the epicenter of giving fans access in some form to the content. I think what we’re doing with Veeps is now unlocking a free window to watch on their huge platform and that’s gonna be massive for us. It’s gonna be great for them. It’ll be huge success. So, I think when you have this kind of disruptive force where we can be the challenger league and say, yeah, no paywall, we’re giving it to you free, that means a lot when times are tough for a lot of people. So, to be able to watch wrestling every Saturday reliably and not look at your bill and be dinged for it and pay that toll is I think gonna be well-received. From our point of view, we always want to super serve the fans, give them our best product, give them our best action and give it to them for the best price and the best value.”

Bauer emphasized that the partnership with Veeps opens MLW to new avenues for fan acquisition and market penetration.

Veeps, co-founded by Good Charlotte members Joel and Benji Madden, gained significant market traction when Live Nation acquired a majority stake in the streaming platform in 2021. This acquisition transformed Veeps from an indie streaming service into a powerful distribution arm for Live Nation, particularly for music concerts and now, with MLW, for live sports entertainment. Pro wrestling fans can claim a “free ticket” to the show before viewing, a mechanism that helps Veeps track viewership and potentially convert engaged fans into attendees for future live events.

“It’s huge for us,” Bauer told FOX Business. “We’ve been really building the last two years and looking at things on a global scale. This is a huge strategic opportunity that we’re unlocking with this partnership. Live Nation is the worldwide leader in live entertainment, of course in ticketing with Ticketmaster, touring logistics, their investment in arenas is massive, merchandise, sponsorships and marketing. We’ve been growing a ton in the last two years from our massive deal with Panini trading cards and selling out every show since January 2024.”

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MLW and Veeps will collaborate on a weekly show and other marketing promotions. (MLW / Unknown)

The partnership’s true market power lies in Veeps’ connection to Live Nation, the global titan in live entertainment. For a challenger brand like MLW, this isn’t just about streaming eyeballs; it’s about tapping into Live Nation’s unparalleled infrastructure. This includes access to Ticketmaster’s vast customer database for potential future event sales, co-promotion opportunities across Live Nation’s extensive network of venues and artists, and enhanced leverage for sponsorship deals. This synergy provides MLW with a significant competitive advantage against rivals that may lack such integrated support, particularly in a professional wrestling landscape dominated by well-funded entities like WWE (part of TKO Group Holdings) and AEW (backed by Shahid Khan).

“So, this partnership is just going to turbo charge MLW in a multitude of ways,” Bauer affirmed, underscoring the comprehensive nature of the deal.

Beyond immediate viewership, the deal’s long-term market implications are particularly intriguing with the planned “infusion of music culture into future events, creating crossover moments connecting wrestling audiences with artists across metal, country, punk, hardcore, and alternative communities.” This strategic intent, discussed for nearly a year by Bauer and Veeps founders Joel and Benji Madden, aims to diversify and expand MLW’s fan base.

“That’s something we’ve been mapping out and talking with them for almost a year. We started mapping this out almost a year ago with Joel and Benji Madden, who launched Veeps back around in 2017 and of course Live Nation bought it around 2021,” he said. “Paul Walter Houser, Brian Walsh and I, we all sat down with the Veeps and Live Nation team to kinda see are what the opportunities here for what you guys are doing with this platform to what you’re doing with Live Nation and touring and what you’re doing with your production and of course with all your great artists? And we were like what’s the synergy there? What’s the crossover opportunity?”

Historically, professional wrestling has thrived on cultural integration, as exemplified by the ’80s synergy between MTV and WWE. This modern iteration, powered by Live Nation’s vast roster of musical talent and touring capabilities, presents an innovative pathway to audience expansion. For MLW, it’s an opportunity to attract new demographics who might be unfamiliar with wrestling but are loyal music fans, and create new revenue streams through co-branded events, merchandise, and unique experiential offerings. “Pro wrestling has always been kind of embedded in the fabric of Americana. You think back in the ’80s. You have MTV and wrestling, it was like peanut butter and jelly. It just went really well together. In pop culture in general, you can look back into the black and white days of TV with Gorgeous George on TV. So, there’s always been some unique crossover appeal of wrestling,” Bauer added.

“So, now we’re looking at how do you we do that? What could be the opportunities to integrate what Live Nation and Veeps does with musicians, with great artists, touring artists and MLW? So, there’s a whole wave of opportunities we’re exploring from that end. I think there could be some really exciting things. This isn’t just a streaming deal. Now, MLW is in the business with the world’s largest live entertainment and ticketing company. There’s just unlimited potential to this partnership.” This comprehensive vision suggests a move beyond mere content distribution to a fully integrated entertainment product, potentially setting a new benchmark for how niche sports properties can expand their market footprint in the digital age.

Pro wrestling fans who may be introduced to the company via Veeps are in for a show, with a roster that features both established names and emerging talent.

The MLW roster features household names that may already be known to the average wrestling audience, like Kross, Bishop Dyer, Alex Hammerstone, Donovan Dijak, Shotzi, Scarlett Bordeaux, Trevor Lee, Austin Aries and others. But the company has also blended its partnerships with places like Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Stardom into its talent pool as well, offering a diverse array of wrestling styles that appeal to a global audience.

Killer Kross in Major League Wrestling’s Battle Riot. (MLW / Unknown)

“We’re premiering this Saturday with a new season and it’s free. It’s free on YouTube, it’s free on Veeps and it’s gonna be a stacked two-hour special,” Bauer said. “We got Austin Aries vs. Trevor Lee. Killer Kross, our world heavyweight champion, will in action and in a press conference along with Danny McBride and yours truly will have a little bit of a press conference. We have a great women’s division with Shotzi and Priscilla Kelly. They’ll be battling this weekend. Bishop Dyer, some of you remember him as Baron Corbin from WWE, he’s one-half of the world tag team champions. He’ll be in action.”

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“It’s just a who’s who on our show from Japan to Mexico to the top stars here in the U.S. We’ll be kicking this thing off live and in color this Saturday night, 6:05 p.m. ET on YouTube, on Veeps and beIN Sports throughout the night. But Saturdays, we’re gonna plant our flag and do it big.”

Market Impact: This strategic alliance between Major League Wrestling and Veeps, underpinned by Live Nation’s market dominance, represents a calculated gamble on the ‘free-to-view’ model in a paywalled world. For MLW, it promises accelerated brand growth, enhanced global reach, and diversified revenue opportunities through Live Nation’s ecosystem, potentially elevating its status as a significant player in the competitive pro wrestling market. For Veeps and Live Nation, it strengthens their position in the live-streamed entertainment segment, adding valuable sports content and exploring innovative cross-promotional strategies with their music assets. The success of this model could influence other niche sports leagues and content creators to reconsider their monetization strategies, potentially ushering in a new era of audience-centric, accessible entertainment, and challenging the prevailing narrative of escalating subscription costs across the digital landscape.