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WWE CEO Nick Khan & TKO Execs, AEW Owner Tony Khan Named To Variety 'Dealmakers' List

SI Wrestling Staff

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This week, Variety announced their annual dealmakers list, with a number of wrestling executives among the prestigious list of honorees.

The list of honorees included AEW Owner and CEO Tony Khan, WWE President Nick Khan, and members of WWE parent company TKO Group, which included TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel, President and COO Mark Shapiro, and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer.

Variety writes on Tony Khan:

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.

- Variety

Khan is quoted as saying, “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.”

On the inclusion of TKO/WWE executives, Variety writes:

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.

- Variety

TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer writes about the Netflix deal: "While the money is extraordinarily important, the downstream impact and ancillary benefits to being with the distributor and just south of 300 million homes globally was something that got us very excited.”

Both AEW and WWE's new streaming deals begin in January 2025.

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SI Wrestling Staff
SI WRESTLING STAFF

The Wrestling Staff at The Takedown On SI is committed to bringing fans the latest news, analysis, and insights from professional wrestling. Covering everything from WWE, AEW and more, the team delivers in-depth interviews, breaking stories, and expert commentary to keep wrestling fans informed and entertained.

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