WWE announced a partnership with the NFL to sell legacy title belts.
WWE’s war with AEW knows no limits in pettiness, and WWE’s multi-year partnership with the NFL is the latest example.
WWE announced its first-ever line of officially licensed NFL legacy title belts, which are currently listed on NFLshop.com, Fanatics.com and WWEShop.com. Though the press release states the partnership is a “multi-year licensing deal to create NFL-inspired WWE legacy title belts featuring the official colors and branding of all 32 teams,” only 31 teams are currently listed on all three online retailers.
The one missing team? The Jacksonville Jaguars.
It doesn’t take much detective work to surmise that this wasn’t a coincidence. The Jacksonville Jaguars are owned by the Khan family, which includes AEW owner Tony Khan. AEW’s home base is in Jacksonville’s Daily’s place, which was the site of AEW programming throughout the pandemic. The Jaguars have been featured on AEW throughout the years, including a cameo from then-head coach Urban Meyer during the 2021 Stadium Stampede.
WWE appearing to remove the Jacksonville Jaguars from its listings of NFL legacy title belts is yet another dose of pettiness that has become all-too-familiar during a heated wrestling war. Though WWE has dominated the war in every key performance indicator, AEW has also seen its share of victories. AEW Dynamite defeated WWE NXT
AEW experienced its biggest milestone less than 24 hours ago at the historic All In pay-per-view, which announced a paid attendance record of 81,035 and a live gate of over $10 million. All In in Wembley Stadium’s paid attendance was announced as a world record, surpassing WWE SummerSlam 1992 and WrestleMania 32 in 2016.
The Jags being scrubbed from WWE-related websites seems like an open-and-shut case, but Fanatics Support suggests the Jaguars title belt removal wasn’t due to a wrestling war, but rather the popularity of the Jaguars title belt.
In response to a fan looking to purchase the Jaguars replica title belt, the official Fanatics Support Twitter (X) account replied “Hey there! Those sold faster than we could have ever imagined! I would keep your eyes peeled for a restock in the next few days! #DUUUUUUUVAL”
The Jaguars replica title belt possibly selling out potentially unlocks more pettiness than we ever even knew. Did AEW fans galvanize to buy these belts in support of the company, thereby showing up WWE? Will there be conspiracy theories that Tony Khan bought up all the belts to send a message to WWE, similar to the years-long conspiracy theories that Khan buys AEW tickets? If the comment section of Fanatics Support’s reply is any indication, online tensions from “Replica-Gate” have only just begun.
WWE reported $28 million in consumer products revenue in its 2Q-23 earnings report, representing a 37% ($16.1 million) decrease from 2Q-22. WWE noted that “licensing revenue primarily reflected a decrease in video gaming and collectibles revenue. The year-over-year change in eCommerce revenue (which decreased from $12.9 million to $4.6 million) reflected the previously disclosed transition of our digital retail platform to Fanatics.”
WWE has been known to send replica title belts to Super Bowl champions, among other championship sports teams, with the company most recently sending a WWE replica title belt to Super Bowl LVII MVP Patrick Mahomes. Legacy NFL title belt or not, it’ll be interesting to see if WWE would show the same congratulatory praise to the Jaguars should they win a Super Bowl. Though Jacksonville has never even been to a Super Bowl in its 29 seasons with the NFL, many experts would argue their Super Bowl window is currently wide open. With a young, talented roster led by thrid-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the returning wide receiver Calvin Ridley—coupled with a Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson—the Jaguars have plenty of firepower on offense. With relatively long odds to win the Super Bowl in 2023, the Jags have emerged as a darkhorse pick to make a Super Bowl run when the NFL kicks off next month.
Whether the Jaguars’ missing title belt is the result of a bitter wrestling war, sold-out Jaguars merch or somewhere in between, WWE’s partnership with the NFL will only get more interesting the closer the Jaguars come to a Super Bowl.