AEW President Tony Khan recently spoke to Sports Illustrated to hype this evening’s Fight for the Fallen card and to talk all things pro-wrestling. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
On tonight’s Fight for the Fallen card:
It’s one of the biggest cards we’ve ever put on a Dynamite,” said Khan, the president and CEO of AEW. “It’s consistent with what we like to do in the summer, putting on big shows in between Double or Nothing and All Out.
Always wanting to put great wrestling on television:
I always wanted to put great wrestling on television,” said Khan. “A lot of the greatest wrestlers in the world weren’t on television before, but now they are. And when I was a kid, my whole summer was wrestling. We really want to put a lot of great stuff out there, especially for young people. That’s one of my hopes as we continue to build this young audience. And the card is a great illustration of what we’re all about.
How television rights has been the lifeblood of their revenue stream:
The key for us is TV rights. That is our primary revenue stream. Without a live gate, that revenue stream has become the lifeblood of our company. It’s very important for me to keep producing new shows and have those shows keep performing the way the way they want us to perform, which is performing well in the 18–49-year-old demographic. So far, we’ve been doing those things, and they’re very happy with us.
The success of Fyter Fest:
Over the past two weeks, Fyter Fest was a huge success. We look at that chart every week of where we rank in the 18–49-year-old demographic, and to be in the top seven two weeks in a row is a really good performance for us. It’s important to understand what the network actually looks at, so people will understand what we consider success. The key for us is to keep the demo number high.
TNT being a great partner:
I loved the business for a long time and I always wanted to do something in it, but I never had the opportunity until I had the interest of TNT and WarnerMedia. In order to have a great wrestling company, you need a great TV partner, and that’s what we have in [TNT President] Kevin Riley. I’m really grateful to Kevin and TNT for believing in AEW and believing in our fans. Without them, we never would have been able to do it.