Tony Khan Says AEW Could Benefit From Huge WWE Netflix Deal
WWE’s new deal with Netflix has left Tony Khan excited about the future.
On January 23rd it was announced that Monday Night Raw will be moving to Netflix from January 2025. The deal is said to be worth a staggering $5 billion and came after it was revealed that SmackDown will move to the USA Network in late 2024, and NXT will have a new home on The CW.
Alongside the huge finances involved, the deal for Raw caught the attention of insiders as it marks the first time the show will air exclusively on a streaming platform. Many wondered whether the switch could be part of a new trend, likening it to WWE launching its own Network in 2014.
AEW is also set to renegotiate its media rights in 2024, which means that Tony Khan has been keeping a close eye on WWE’s dealings.
Appearing on Payne & Pendergast, Khan was asked about the WWE and Netflix deal and whether it could have a positive impact on AEW.
“Absolutely. We’re excited to get big media rights renewals in the wrestling business. That’s great to see for everybody. We’re in a big contract year, too, and I think AEW is going to get big media rights. Right now, we have a great partnership on TBS and TNT that I want to continue for a long time. We’ve been on since 2019, it’s five years now we’re going on TBS and TNT, and it’s been great and I want to keep it going because there is a great tradition of wrestling on those channels.”
Tony Khan Claims AEW Is Better Than Ever
2024 has already seen several stunning changes to the wrestling landscape with Scott D’Amore and Rossy Ogawa leaving TNA Wrestling and STARDOM respectively, a change at the top of NJPW, and Vince McMahon being ordered to step down from the TKO Board due to a sex trafficking scandal.
Meanwhile, things have been pretty much plain sailing for AEW with the company set to unveil new signings Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone in the coming weeks.
Speaking elsewhere, Tony Khan claimed AEW is currently better than it has ever been.
H/t to Fightful