Tony Khan is not entirely pleased with the current state of AEW media rights negotiations despite comments made in interviews.
2024 is set to be one of the most important years in the history of All Elite Wrestling as their current deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is set to expire before the end of the year. While rival WWE has secured lucrative partnerships with major networks USA and CW along with a game-changing agreement with Netflix for Monday Night Raw, the promotion is still in the negotiation process as the current deal draws ever closer to expiring.
Prior to Double or Nothing, Khan spoke with Sports Illustrated and remained optimistic that a new deal would be reached soon:
“It’s a really exciting time for AEW. We’re in active negotiations for the AEW media rights. Warner Bros. Discovery continues to be the best possible partner, and they’ve helped us grow this brand. It’s going to be a very exciting remainder to this year, and we’ll find out where AEW is going to live.
“For everyone who cares about AEW all over the world, we’re in a great position. This is going to work out really well for AEW. We’re having great talks, and people should feel very confident about what that means for the wrestlers, the staff, and the fans. As a result of everyone’s hard work and endless support from the fans, there will be a tremendous deal for AEW. The outlook for the company is so bright moving forward.”
With the promotion broadcasting 5 hours of TV each week across TBS and TNT and the flagship show Dynamite ranking high in key demo viewership most weeks, the line-up of shows has expanded since the agreement began. During the post-show press conference at Double or Nothing, Khan further elaborated on the talks between himself and the network while highlighting his relationship with WBD CEO David Zaslav:
“I know we were having great talks and I’m very blessed to be engaged with the awesome leadership of Warner Brothers Discovery. Mr. Zaslav has been amazing for AEW.”
“Again, like I was just saying, to be able to create new opportunities after several years of being here and a couple of different, great regimes, including the awesome regime that helped us launch this, it’s been so refreshing to have Mr. Zaslav come in with a fresh perspective and want more AEW and give us the opportunity to do a Meal and a Match, give us every Saturday night on TNT for ‘Collision,’ and I would absolutely love to stay here as long as they would have us.”
H/t to Wrestling Inc.
Although on the surface it appears that talks are moving in the right direction, a new report has given a more concerning insight.
Tony Khan Unhappy
As reported by Matthew Belloni in The Puck’s newsletter The Mail Room, Khan is said to be “disappointed with the offer currently on the table.” Additionally, it is pointed out that Khan will be aware that WBD has lost the rights to the NBA and that renewing AEW would be “a mere drop in the NBA bucket.”
It is also added that the window for exclusive negotiations closes in July and while another suitor could make an offer after this date, only networks that don’t broadcast WWE content could make an offer.
Although the media rights remain uncertain and the exclusivity window is closing soon, Belloni reports that a good relationship has been maintained as “for now, though, both sides are playing nice.” In a new update, AEW sources have responded.
Looking to make further changes, Tony Khan has teased adding more championships.