Belief that AEW is not profitable right now
AEW has pushed forward despite being in the losing corner when it comes to a ratings battle with WWE. However, according to a certain journalist, the promotion is not profitable, and despite this, Tony Khan may not make any changes.
Based on what has been seen in the past few weeks, the Jacksonville-based promotion has been inferior in terms of ratings, streaming, and live attendance when compared to the Stamford-based promotion. But this has not deterred the promotion's CEO and management from continuing to put on shows each week for the fans.
Recently, Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics spoke to SEScoops regarding the promotion's predicament. His company was a hub for all statistics and data regarding professional wrestling, so he had a grasp of the situation.
He first talked about how Tony Khan was too loyal to Warner Bros. Discovery, and he was not interested in talking to Fox, for example, the former home of SmackDown.
“I think Tony is incredibly committed to WBD. He’s insanely loyal. I asked him recently if FOX was now a possibility for AEW with Smackdown leaving. He would only talk about Warner Discovery and how me he loves being partners there.”
The Wrestlenomics owner discussed why he was confident that they weren't profitable at this point. Thurston said that it was still possible for the promotion to hit numbers to make a profit, but he believed that Tony Khan would continue running AEW whether it was profitable or not.
“I’m confident they aren’t profitable now. They need to make $200 million a year in media rights to get to profitability. They’ll get some increase, they could get triple what they’re getting now, it’s not unreasonable. But he’s going to continue to run the company and do what he’s doing whether it’s profitable or not.” [H/T InsidetheRopes]
Vince Russo believes Tony Khan's goal with AEW is not to make money
During an episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws back in June, Vince Russo talked about an article he read about Tony Khan, mentioning that he never expected WWE to have competition.
Russo then mentioned how he believed that this was Khan's goal all along, not to make money, as he was a billionaire already. He wanted to create a competitor for the top wrestling promotion.
"Here was the headline: Tony Khan never imagined that another wrestling company could challenge the WWE. What wrestling company is that? Bro, that’s his whole thing. That’s his whole thing! He’s buying these hours of television time, actually believing that he can overtake the WWE! This isn’t about making money, the dude’s a billionaire, bro!"
As of now, AEW has a lot in place to cap off the year, with Full Gear and World's End being the two remaining major events. Khan has also been promoting next year's edition of All In months ahead of the event. It seems that he does not have issues with finances.
Do you think AEW should start worrying about profits? Let us know in the comments section below.