Tony Khan Discusses AEW's Current Relationship With Warner Brothers Discovery
A lot of things have changed for AEW since the promotion first formed in 2019, including their broadcast partners, with WarnerMedia transitioning into Warner Brothers Discovery following the merger between the two companies earlier this year. And for AEW owner and CEO Tony Khan, that's not a bad thing for business.
In an interview with Sporticast, Khan talked about AEW's partnership with the conglomerate, as well as what drives revenue for AEW, both separate and related to the partnership. "Live events is a huge revenue driver," Khan said. "Merchandising is a huge revenue driver. We have huge sponsorships now. DraftKings has come in and been an amazing sponsor for AEW this year. Also, like you said, media rights is a big part of it. Pay-per-view is a big part of it. We've been selling pay-per-views working with Bleacher Report, inDemand, pay-per-view providers, internationally on FITE TV's streaming. And our TV deals are, I think, the biggest individual revenue driver."
"And for us, we've got this great partnership with Warner Brothers Discovery, and we've got the rest of this year, and next year. And they have really been so good to us. And I feel, not only was the original leadership so great to take a chance on an unknown company, but then post-merger, the Discovery leadership has been so supportive. And we're getting opportunities now, with the new management, even bigger than we have before."
Tony Khan Discusses Crossover With WBD Property
Khan also discussed the cross-promotion AEW has done with other WBD properties and the success both sides have gotten from the crossovers. "There's a huge viewership for it," Khan said. "They gave us the opportunity to promote "Shark Week" in AEW, and to develop creative of our own to help further the promotion of "Shark Week." And then, based on the success of that, they came back to us with a huge opportunity. We had been working with WarnerMedia before Warner Brothers Discovery for years, and never had we had the opportunity to do integrations with HBO, let alone with the #1 show on TV right now in "House of the Dragon."
"And to have the opportunity to promote "House of the Dragon," and for them to ask me if I could come up with a way to integrate it in our show. And then, not only did we do that, but I believe, and a lot of our fans believe, and you can look at the ratings, like the IMDB of pro wrestling, Cagematch.net, it's considered one of the best wrestling events of all time, the "House of the Dragon" we did just several weeks ago for them." Khan's comments will likely serve to reassure many concerned AEW viewers, as Warner Brothers Discovery's recent round of sudden movie and TV show cancellations in pursuit of saving money left some worried about AEW's TV future.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sporticast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.