Tony Khan held his usual pre-pay-per-view media conference call on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
During the media call, the AEW and ROH President spoke about the TV rights negotiations with Warner Bros Discovery, an update on Powerhouse Hobbs and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights.
On soon becoming the second most profitable company in wrestling history as a result of the new WBD TV rights deal: “I think it is reasonable. Whether those cash flows happen overnight when the new deal kicks in, I can’t say those things for sure yet. There is still a lot to be figured out. I do think the die is cast that AEW is going to be the second most profitable wrestling company, at this point, of all time, which is very impressive for a promotion that is just over five years old and has been on television for less than five years. It’s amazing how quickly we’re expended. The expansion of the television product going from two hours a week to five hours a week. Being very excited about what the future holds in our media deal. It’s a really great time for the company. As getting into the semantics and mechanics of the accounting, and how we’re counting all the dollars, I’m not sure exactly how much money WCW made in 1998, nor am I honestly sure how much Jim Crockett was making in 1986, but over the duration of this deal, I expect, over this multi-year period that we’re about to enter into, that we will be the second most profitable wrestling company in the history of the wrestling business. It’s a really exciting thing, and it’s also only the beginning. It’s the beginning of a really long journey. It’s been long journey, but it’s still early in the long journey. We’re really building for the future.”
On an update on the negotiations: “It’s a really exciting time for AEW. We are having great conversations. There have been a lot of reports, and a lot of them have been pretty accurate about the status of the media deal between AEW and Warner Brothers Discovery being something that has been a productive and ongoing conversation that we’re still working on. There are a lot of details. You mentioned the future of the TV deal, which is something we all want; AEW on TBS and TNT. It’s great to be wanted by TBS and TNT. I feel very fortunate that, after being here for five years, there is still this great appetite and desire to keep AEW at TBS and TNT. It’s a mutual thing. We love Warner Brothers Discovery.”
On the two sides still working through the details of the agreement: “We’re still working through the details of the agreement, which is a very long and tenuous process, but a good process to do. It can be long to figure out a contract for one person, one player, one athlete. Imagine an entire league, doing an agreement for all of our events and all the exciting things we’re working on. There are some exciting things to come, without revealing anything that would jeopardize our company or the great status of everything we’re working on. There is a lot of excitement on each side. Without getting into the future of streaming, I acknowledge there have been a lot of good conversations between AEW and Warner Brothers Discovery. There are a lot of things to be worked out, but it’s a great time for AEW. This is going to work out really well for AEW and our fans.”
On Powerhouse Hobbs: “Will Hobbs has been visiting the doctors. He was injured wrestling against Jon Moxley in April. It’s been several months of Hobbs being out. We’re hoping to get him back soon, but I think there is still some time he needs for the recovery. Powerhouse Hobbs is a huge part of AEW and has been a great champion. We look forward to getting Will Hobbs back. I can’t say the exact date, but he’s somebody in our plans that we want to get going again soon. It’s been nice to see him backstage a couple of times lately. This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen him, which is a good thing that he keeps coming in for check ups and is making good progress.”
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
