AEW's Tony Khan Explains Why He's Turned Down Multiple Potential ROH TV Deals

Since 2023, Ring of Honor's weekly programming has largely aired on the HonorClub streaming platform, with episodes occasionally being uploaded to YouTube as well. In contrast, ROH's sister promotion of All Elite Wrestling is in the midst of a multi-year media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery that sees its weekly content aired on TNT, TBS, and HBO Max. On the ROH Final Battle media call, ROH owner and AEW CEO Tony Khan addressed the possibility of moving ROH to a bigger platform, specifically a television network.

According to Khan, he's received multiple "great" offers to boost ROH to television, but so far, none of them have truly won him over. "I have had opportunities at times to move ROH to TV and from great media partners," he said, "but right now, we have to look at the AEW situation. AEW's got a media rights deal with a half-billion dollar contract. Given that I have a half-billion dollar contract to produce wrestling television, I really want to make sure I get good rights fees and that the situation for ROH is not necessarily equal to what we get with AEW because it's fairly historic for a challenger wrestling brand to have the kind of media rights that we do and the kind of following that AEW has.

"ROH, I'm very interested in having an ROH TV show. I think that the media rights have to be certainly not necessarily equal or definitely not greater than, but I do think I want to get a rights fee that makes sense and the perfect situation with a media partner."

As it stands, Khan confirmed that ROH pay-per-views and weekly "ROH on HonorClub" programming are bringing in "really good" revenue despite being behind the paywall of HonorClub. Even the occasional shows on YouTube are said to be getting a positive reception as well.

When asked to further elaborate on his criteria for Ring of Honor to potentially onboard to a bigger stage, Khan noted that he is considering a combination of components.

"It's not any one factor," he said. "It's got to be the right fit. To me, it's got to be the right media partner, but also the money has to be right. And it's got to be the combination of the two things. There's times where we had great media offers and there's times where we've had offers of money. When they line up with the right media partner and the right money [I'd make the deal]. Certainly when you get a deal like we've got with TBS and TNT and HBO Max, that's one of those great situations where it's the perfect combination."

In the current, $555-million dollar agreement between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery, "AEW Dynamite" and "AEW Collision" continue to air on TBS and TNT, respectively, with the ability to simultaneously stream them on HBO Max made available as well. HBO Max, which has since been named as AEW's primary pay-per-view partner, also allows subscribers to purchase and stream AEW PPVs at a discounted rate.

Final Battle, ROH's next pay-per-view event, will emanate from Columbus, Ohio later tonight. Matches include the ROH Women's Pure Championship tournament finals between Deonna Purrazzo and Billie Starkz, ROH Women's Television Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Red Velvet, and ROH World Champion Bandido defending his title in a Survival of the Fittest match. The latest episode of "ROH on HonorClub," aired Thursday night, notably saw Queen Aminata forfeit her spot in the semi-finals of the Women's Pure Title tournament.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ROH with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.