Belief that AEW will become “the second most profitable company in the history of the wrestling business”

While speaking to media heading into the 2024 AEW All Out PPV event, AEW President Tony Khan commented on the company’s talks with Warner Brothers Discovery for a media rights renewal…

“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.”

Khan said the following about AEW’s chances of becoming more profitable than WCW was…

“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.” (quotes courtesy of Fightful.com)