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Does the new AEW tv deal come with any rating targets to get certain percentage of money or is the money completely guaranteed?
We don’t know! We don’t even know how much money AEW is actually getting or whether that money comes in the form of complete cash payment or a mixture of cash and soft money such as considerations like advertising and promotion, which has a value but doesn’t put money into the AEW coffers. It’s a great thing that AEW got a multi-year deal for its programming, let me say that first and foremost. We do not, however, know the specifics of the deal. WBD and Tony Khan wouldn’t comment on terms. The rights fees numbers leaked by “sources”? I don’t trust them. One would think if Tony Khan legitimately got a deal that paid him $185M a year he would want to tout it. I know that I would. While some house organs are jumping to conclusions as to what the deal means for AEW, to me the silence from Khan and WBD is deafening. I am glad AEW will be around but if I don’t know the actual terms of the deal I have no idea how good it is financially for AEW.
AEW won with the rights deal. That is great news. But the problem here is that win doesn't fix anything and this has now been proven. More fans aren't tuning in because they're getting paid. More people aren't going to come to the shows. They're not going to get spikes in sagging YouTube and social numbers. Tony, the son of a billionaire, just has more money. Am I crazy for thinking while this is good for Tony, it won't actually change a thing when it comes to their problems? If anything, it might make Tony somehow believe he's doing nothing wrong.
On the surface, it doesn’t seem like the new deal will fix any of Tony’s self-created problems. Maybe there are performance kickers in the deal. As I said above I won’t know unless I see it. But on the surface it appears that it’s business as usual for AEW.
Good to see AEW finalized their TV deal, but a Tony Khan quote caught my Corporate Communications eye for detail: “I could not ask for better bosses…” “Bosses?” Is this just a young PR intern mistake or have we missed something over the past 6 years about The Khans owning AEW.
I have heard Tony refer to WBD as bosses before and it always strikes me as odd. Saying “partners” makes a lot more sense to me. I have no idea why Tony uses that verbiage.
I have heard people say over and over again that AEW’s problem is that they need more advertising. On the day the TV deal was announced, they got a ton of publicity and buzz and Dynamite’s rating and demo dropped. Doesn’t that tell you that the problem isn’t getting the word out, it’s that the actual product is the issue?
It sure does and as an Elite member I am sure you have heard me say that many times. The problem isn’t that people don’t know AEW’s there. The problem is that they know what is there if they turn on the show: really bad booking.
Did you see Eric Bishcoff’s podcast asking questions about the new AEW TV deal?
Yes, I did and frankly I have a lot of the same questions that Eric has. Now, as a fan it doesn’t matter at all what AEW is getting paid. As long as someone loves AEW and they get to see it, they don’t care if Tony Khan is making money or not. The businessman in me however would love to know the specifics of the deal, but I doubt we ever will. You can watch Eric’s take below.
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