Tony Khan Boasts AEW’s Substantial Revenue Increase for 2024 Going Into The Media Rights Renewal Year

AEW, led by Tony Khan, has forged a significant partnership with Warner Bros Discovery for programming. Khan has been proactive in ensuring that AEW’s content aligns with Warner Bros Discovery’s expectations, leading to speculation about a potential media rights deal between the two entities.

AEW has seen significant changes and growth over the past couple of years, especially with the expansion of its pay-per-view schedule. Heading into upcoming media rights negotiations, AEW’s President Tony Khan discussed the company’s overall revenue growth following the first quarter of 2024.

During the AEW Dynasty media call, Khan shared with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter how the expanded pay-per-view schedule has contributed to a substantial increase in revenue. He noted that Q1 2024 revenue is significantly up due to running more events, such as adding AEW Collision and strong attendance at AEW Dynamite events. Successful shows in various markets, such as Boston and Toronto, and a record-breaking AEW Revolution pay-per-view event have all played a role in this growth.

Khan highlighted that AEW Revolution is one of the biggest pay-per-view events in AEW history, surpassing last year’s Revolution in terms of gate revenue and pay-per-view buys. Additionally, the renewal of media rights and the increase in rights fees for AEW Dynamite in 2024, as well as the addition of new shows, have led to higher revenue overall.

”Q1 2024, the revenue is significantly up. We’ve run more events. We added AEW Collision. AEW Dynamite is strong, we’ve had good attendance in some markets, year over year, attendance is up. In particular, a lot of successful shows in this run including Boston, Toronto, AEW Revolution was one of our top US gates ever. On the pay-per-view side, AEW Revolution is one of the biggest AEW pay-per-view shows of all time. It was our biggest pay-per-view since AEW All In and surpassed last year’s Revolution, which did really really well.“

“The gate was up, the pay-per-view buys were significantly up. With more shows, more pay-per-view revenue, it’s been more revenue this year. Big growth there and a lot of opportunities. Also, our rights fees were higher with the 2024 option getting picked up vs. 2023 for Dynamite, and the addition of more shows, we had significantly higher revenue for 2024. It’s a big growth and big opportunities going into the media rights renewal year and continuing to grow the business going in 2025.”

We have already reported that AEW could possibly be nearing an agreement with Warner Bros Discovery for the media rights deal. As talks advance, the timing of AEW and Warner Bros Discovery’s agreement remains uncertain. Nonetheless, clinching a deal with Warner Bros Discovery would be a noteworthy milestone for Tony Khan’s company.

Do you feel AEW will only continue to grow heading into 2025 as well? Let us know in the comments section below!