AEW President Tony Khan spoke with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp on various topics, including the negotiation process between the company and Warner Bros. Discovery for a new broadcast rights deal.
Khan said, “It’s interesting. For me, as a sports executive, it’s interesting to sit in the other seat as a player. I’ve been in so many negotiations across football and pro wrestling and have so many great relationship with talent and athletes. Knowing what it’s like with the greatest athletes, in this case, as AEW the company, the sports league, being in the player’s seat, it was really really great. You talk about relationships I know what it’s like to be the party on WBD’s side. That’s why I had such a great relationship and rapport with them and I think it helped AEW. We have a lot of trust, and what’s really great is Mr. Zaslav himself told me he believes in AEW. David Zaslav is one of the greatest executives in Hollywood and a big supporter of AEW. That’s really great for us to have the boss of Warner Brothers Discovery in AEW’s corner and in the wrestling fans corner. I was at the Olympics with him in Paris and we’re talking about AEW on the biggest stage in international sports with a top executive whose company had all the European broadcasting rights and great things going on. Mr. Zaslav was really excited about the renewal process over the summer, and engaged. To have Mr. Zaslav, Bruce Campbell, and the great team behind us. Kathleen Finch will be retiring. She’s been great boss for us at TBS and TNT and a big AEW supporter. Kathleen is a very prestigious entertainment executive and her first ever wresting event was AEW Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was the first time she had ever been to pro wrestling, and we made a fan for life with Kathleen. I got to spend a great time with her and her husband Pete and all the great Warner Brothers Discovery executives in Paris as we were coming to close this deal together.”
On the simulcast:
“A huge piece of it is the simulcast. That’s one of the things we wanted to get done and both sides are going to see a lot of value. It’s going to be great for everyone involved. There will be AEW fans coming to Max to watch these shows, and we’re still going to bring the same great audience to TBS and TNT, week in and week out. I want to stress that. For the fans, this doesn’t change your viewing experience, unless you want it to. For everybody who watches the show on TBS and TNT, don’t get confused. The show is still going to be on every Wednesday on TBS and every Saturday on TNT. It’s just another way to watch the show and hopefully make more new AEW fans on Max.”
You can check out Khan’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
