Tony Khan has opened up on AEW’s “path to profitability”.
Tony Khan signed a new WBD deal earlier this year and believes his AEW is on the correct path. Also, seemingly happy with Collision’s current ratings, Khan recently opened up on Rampage’s future, which helps them shape the future of the company.
While Rampage finished up on the 27th of December 2024, Khan believes this move will help them restructure their calendar and shift their focus on the four hours of television between Dynamite and Collision.
Speaking with Bill Pritchard of Wrestlezone during the Worlds End media call, Khan detailed the company’s financial projections and their intention to dedicate resources to their two television series.
It’s a great situation for AEW. We’re getting a new media rights agreement that is huge for us, for many reasons. It’s a massive opportunity for AEW to be able to simulcast our shows and reach new viewers through the streaming service Max.
It’s a huge opportunity for us and the deal was very favorable for AEW. We were able to get the rights fees that are many times larger than what we had in our first five years. It completely changes the financial picture of AEW and it’s the big target we have aspired to for many years. Part of that agreement is we would focus on these four hours [of AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision].”
He further also opened up on their new media rights agreement and how that has put the company on the path to profitability.
It is, in many ways, a reimagination of the calendar, but it’s also going to be great for the company. It allows us to really focus on Dynamite and Collision and put more resources into those shows and grow the company,” he said. “By getting right fees that are multiple times higher than we initially had, we put the company on the path to profitability and that’s really important. The company is going to be one of the most successful wrestling companies of all time, on the bottom line, and we’ve grown the business.
We developed it and gone through the startup phase, and we had a great media rights deal for many years, and then we built, built and invested and invested in the company, invested in talent, invested in TV, invested in technology infrastructure, international growth, all with this year in mind. Now, we’re just days away from the thing that we all targeted. When I said the TV deal was in the red zone, that it was on the goal line. All those things proved to be true, and we put together this huge media rights deal that now we can make this a very profitable business for many years to come.”
H/t Wrestlezone
Tony Khan Teases Ricky Starks’ Return Ahead Of Worlds End
During the Worlds Collide media call, Jon Alba enquired with Khan about Ricky Starks’ status heading into 2025. With Fight For the Fallen scheduled as the promotion’s first event in 2025, Tony Khan laid out multiple surprises for it, including Ricky Starks’ return.
I think we’ll have to stay tuned to see who’s going to be a part of the Fight for the Fallen simulcast. It remains to be seen. We’ve got a great roster here, and we’ve got one of our best pay-per-view lineups for Worlds End this year. I think it’s a tremendous card. Then, As for who’s going to be at the ‘Mother of All Simulcasts,’ that remains to be seen. But thanks for asking.”
In other news: A WWE Hall of Famer believes he should have defeated Goldberg.