Tony Khan discusses media rights negotiations for AEW and how ROH fits into them.
During the ROH Final Battle media call, Tony Khan was asked to comment on where ROH stands with AEW’s main broadcast partner in the United States, Warner Bros. Discovery. Specifically, he was asked to discuss whether WBD views ROH as a viable property as part of a bundle for a potential deal for AEW’s media rights. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“We’ve had really good talks with Warner Brothers Discovery, had a great visit with them today and we have a really exciting relationship that has grown a lot over the years and has expanded for AEW,” Tony Khan said. “Ring of Honor is still a third party in the relationship and is a company putting on really exciting wrestling and is peripheral to the conversation right now. It offers a lot of value to AEW and to a media company.
“There is a lot of interest in ROH and some of the most exciting wrestling and stories and some of the best events in ROH history are happening now. It’s really awesome that ROH has healthy options and very complementary for myself, my family, and our business interests, the ROH media rights and the massive library and IP are there and accessible to us as we pursue new media rights for AEW in 2024 and we also have the additional value of the ROH library with the AEW library that has continued to grow. Almost 200 episodes of Dynamite, well over 100 episodes of Rampage, and an exciting half-year of Collision.”
Tony Khan: Having ROH And AEW Aligned With Media Rights Is Valuable
Tony Khan was also asked to comment on Haus of Wrestling‘s report that The CW Network had been interested in ROh. Khan emphasized that being able to have both the AEW and ROH libraries, as well as their current lineup of content, is valuable, especially with the media rights coming up.
“It is a value for us that we have this big library and additional media rights in addition to the five hours of weekly television and the great shows with Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision. Having that with our pay-per-view shows, our library, and complementing that with ROH with new events, which have been some of the best events ROH has ever had in the time we’ve owned the company, and the ability to go back and look at some of the greatest wrestlers in the world, a lot of them are in AEW now, and some of them wrestle in other companies all over the world.
“It’s great to look back at that library of events. I definitely think it’s a value add for AEW and ROH to be aligned with media rights that are coming up for AEW in 2024. It’s going to be a very exciting time for AEW and it’s great to have ROH there as far as strategic value.”
Tony Khan Confirms CW’s Interest, Comments On Other Parties
Tony Khan stated that there are a number of interested parties, but they have not had a lot of detailed talks. Khan noted that he met with CW representatives, including Dennis Miller. He stated that the timing wasn’t right before he looked ahead to 2024.
“As far as the TV rights, we’ve had a lot of interested parties,” Tony Khan said. “It’s definitely something I’ve been holding onto and haven’t had a lot of detailed conversations. I think CW is a great network and we did have a visit. Dennis visited us at the Forum last year and was great.
“I have a lot of respect for Dennis Miller and the CW folks. The timing for us wasn’t necessarily right, but there is a lot of great, interested, people in the marketplace in both AEW and ROH. For 2024, it will be really exciting time for pro wrestling and ROH added good value going forward.”
The full video can be seen here:
WrestleZone will have coverage of ROH Final Battle as it airs on December 15.
