“Variety” revealed its list of 2024 Dealmakers, honoring and celebrating those in the entertainment industry who landed big deals over the past 12 months. Headlining the Class of 2024 is AEW President Tony Khan , for securing the new media rights deal with Warner Brothers Discovery.
Khan commented on his inclusion in the roster and is proud of what he has accomplished with AEW over the past five years, but excited for what awaits him in 2025.
“Our new arrangement means AEW will make history as the first professional wrestling promotion to simulcast events every week on top cable channels and a leading streaming platform,” Khan said.
The deal with WBD is worth $555 million, with AEW not only remaining on TNT and TBS through 2027, but it will also see them simulcast their weekly shows on MAX, as well as the company’s tape library being on-demand in the United States for the first time. “Variety” also noted that AEW is valued at over $2 billion, making it the third most valuable combat sports company behind UFC and WWE.
WWE Chairman Nick Khan was also on the list alongside TKO CEO Ari Emmanuel, TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro, and TKO and WWE CFO Andrew Schleimer, for their deal with Netflix that is not only worth over $5 billion, but it will also see WWE gain the most global exposure it has ever seen.
“Even though the money is extraordinarily important, the downstream impact and ancillary benefits of being with the distributor and just south of 300 million homes around the world really excited us,” Schleimer said.
