Tony Khan Named Top Dealmaker In 2024 After AEW Success
After a banner year for pro wrestling Tony Khan has been named alongside WWE’s top brass as some of the biggest dealmakers of 2024.
AEW signed a new multiyear deal with Warner Bros Discovery that will see Tony Khan’s promotion also air on the Max streaming service. The deal also ensures that AEW will be profitable as it makes the company $185 million a year for at least the next three years.
That was enough for Variety to name Khan at the top of their list of dealmakers for 2024:
In October, five years to the week after Khan launched professional wrestling promotion AEW as a direct competitor to Vince McMahon’s long-dominant WWE, he closed a multi-year media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, worth a reported $185 million a year, that calls for AEW’s shows and events to be broadcast on TBS and TNT and stream on Max. The company is now valued at more than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable combat sports company in the world.
Tony Khan noted that AEW’s new deal will see his company make wrestling broadcasting history:
Our new arrangement signifies that AEW will make history as the first professional wrestling promotion to simulcast events weekly on top cable channels and a top streaming platform.
WWE Executives Join Tony Khan On Dealmaker List
WWE and TKO bosses Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, Mark Shapiro, and Andrew Schleimer also made the list after WWE signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Netflix:
Last year, Endeavor merged Ultimate Fighting Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment under the TKO Group Holdings banner. In January 2024, TKO’s leadership quadrumvirate closed a $5.2 billion, 10-year deal to make Netflix the exclusive home of WWE’s flagship show “Raw” in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Latin America and other territories beginning in January 2025.
As part of the pact, Netflix will be the home for all WWE shows and specials outside the U.S. from that date forward, giving roughly 80% of international territories immediate access to 100% its content, with the rest of the globe filling out their WWE lineups as outstanding deals expire.
The first episode of Raw on Netflix will air live on January 6th 2025 with CM Punk set for a huge grudge match on the show.