Tony Khan’s Profitability Seemingly Confirmed After WBD’s Multi-Million Dollar Offer Details Are Disclosed

Under the direction of Tony Khan, All Elite Wrestling has forged a remarkable partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery for its weekly programming. However, the relationship between the two entities faced a significant challenge. The negotiations for a new audiovisual rights agreement did not progress as expected, according to several reports.

Khan has worked hard to ensure that AEW’s content meets Warner Bros. Discovery’s standards, which has been critical to the company’s continued success on Turner’s networks. Despite these efforts, Khan was said to have expressed disappointment with the offer submitted by Warner Bros. Discovery to renew the broadcast rights. But it seems like there is a new twist in the story, as a new deal surely leaves the company a lot of profit. In fact, it may double, according to a recent update. So without wasting more time, let’s dive in to find out more.

AEW could finally go into the profit range

As per reports, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and TNT Sports head Luis Silberwasser are interested in maintaining AEW’s five hours of weekly programming on TNT and TBS. However, the exclusive trading window will close in July. And if no deal is reached before then, other companies, such as Comcast, could enter the fray for broadcast rights.

A key factor in this situation is Warner Bros. Discovery’s relationship with the NBA. If Warner Bros. Discovery loses the broadcasting rights to the North American basketball league, AEW could gain considerable leverage in negotiations. Although the financial value of the deal with AEW is significantly less than that of the NBA, its loss would leave a void in sports programming that AEW could fill.

And it seems like WBD has considered this with a new deal estimated to be more than $110 million per year. All Elite Wrestling has been struggling to make profits for a long time, but this deal would almost double their earnings. As they would be making almost 50% more than their current numbers as per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. As they wrote, “The figures being talked about between WBD & AEW are said to be considerably more than the estimated $110 million per year, or slightly more, that would in theory take AEW into profitable range. There is talk of figures being between 50% above and as much as nearly double the current number said to be already on the table.”

All in all, the new contract would represent a major milestone for Tony Khan’s company, ensuring its continued presence on cable television. However, the deal is yet to be closed before the exclusivity window closes in July. This could open the door to a host of new dynamics in the broadcast rights landscape. However, this won’t be the only change welcomed by the AEW President.

Tony Khan talks about the possibility of AEW Dynamite starting to last 3 hours

In recent weeks, AEW has aired Rampage immediately after Dynamite, allowing the company to have a sort of three-hour-long show. Because of this, talk began about the possibility of AEW keeping this format and both shows merging, resulting in a single one. In a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Tony Khan was asked about the possibility of Dynamite getting an extra hour in the future and officially becoming a three-hour show.

“I think, in some ways, that’s a really challenging question. It’s been interesting to do the three-hour block when it’s been Dynamite and Rampage. You want to keep Dynamite as strong as possible. You look at the history of what’s happened with a two-hour wrestling show when that show has expanded to three hours. It’s interesting. Right now, per hour, the most we get per hour for any of our TV shows is Dynamite. So, in some ways, you can say, Well, that would be a really lucrative opportunity.”

Khan acknowledged that it’s an idea that he finds interesting and that he doesn’t rule it out. He also mentioned that his current goal is to have five hours of programming per week. And that he is open to including more hours in the future. At the moment, there don’t seem to be any concrete plans for Dynamite to be an extra hour long. However, it should not be ruled out in the future. As Tony Khan will want to take advantage of Dynamite’s popularity to include more hours of programming. And with this new deal, he surely would want to create the best product possible. What do you think? Should Khan make these changes? Let us know in the comments.