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Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics explains why he’s confident that AEW isn’t turning a profit with its current media rights deals.
Back in July, it was reported that AEW was in talks with media partner WBD over a new deal. It was later indicated that the company was heading to a streaming deal with Max as well as increasing its pay-per-view schedule. However, no new deal has been signed as of yet.
It was recently reported that Tony Khan was approached by CW to air ROH on its television network, but he declined that negotiation.
Speaking in a new interview with SEScoops, Wrestlenomics owner Brandon Thurston opened up about Tony Khan’s relationship with WBD, saying the AEW President is fiercely loyal to his current media partner and won’t entertain the possibility of taking business elsewhere.
“I think Tony is incredibly committed to WBD. He’s insanely loyal. I asked him recently if FOX was now a possibility for AEW with Smackdown leaving. He would only talk about Warner Discovery and how me he loves being partners there.”
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It was recently reported that Tony Khan was approached by CW to air ROH on its television network, but he declined that negotiation.
Speaking in a new interview with SEScoops, Wrestlenomics owner Brandon Thurston opened up about Tony Khan’s relationship with WBD, saying the AEW President is fiercely loyal to his current media partner and won’t entertain the possibility of taking business elsewhere.
“I think Tony is incredibly committed to WBD. He’s insanely loyal. I asked him recently if FOX was now a possibility for AEW with Smackdown leaving. He would only talk about Warner Discovery and how me he loves being partners there.”
Continuing, Thurston explained why he’s confident the company isn’t profitable under its current media rights deal with WBD and indicated that Khan will continue to do what he wants regardless of profitability.
“I’m confident they aren’t profitable now. They need to make $200 million a year in media rights to get to profitability. They’ll get some increase, they could get triple what they’re getting now, it’s not unreasonable. But he’s going to continue to run the company and do what he’s doing whether it’s profitable or not.”
WBD Interest In NBA Could Affect AEW
Thurston went on to discuss WBD’s hopes of securing a deal with NBA, and how those rights negotiations could affect All Elite Wrestling.
“If I’m Warner Discovery, I’m waiting to see where the NBA rights are going to land. Maybe that influences how I schedule AEW. As for why they aren’t streaming already, it doesn’t make sense to me. At least have next day rights on MAX. Maybe they’re waiting until Collision can deliver ratings. Maybe it will turn into Rampage where it falls off in interest after a while.
“They go against a lot of sports competition the rest of the year. What can they deliver when they aren’t up against college football or the NFL or the NBA? And there’s the NBA deal, which is a hang up as well. NBA exclusive negotiating doesn’t end start until the season is over with – that could be June or July. So if they have to wait until these deals expire.”