During a call with the media ahead of this weekend’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, AEW President Tony Khan was asked a very straightforward question by Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston: Is AEW profitable?
In answering the question, Khan talks about revenues being the highest in company history, but also makes it clear that he is reinvesting a lot of that money back into the business. The end result is that he “can’t comment” on whether or not AEW is currently profitable.
“Our revenue is the highest
it’s ever been. I can’t comment on where we stand in terms of every expense year-to-year. Certainly, this is going to be the most revenue we’ve ever generated, and the strongest financial outlook for the company ever.
I’m reinvesting in a number of projects, including digital projects, to grow the company for the future. So in addition to having the highest revenue by far in AEW history this year, I’m also making big investments for the future to grow the company.
As far as how it’s accounted, I don’t have all the figures in front of me, but I can say that it’s by far the most revenue we’ve ever brought in, and the future is the healthiest outlook, because I’ll continue to reinvest in the business, developing new platforms, and trying to open up new territory to grow the company in the future.
…We’re also launching some new projects, and some international developments that will require investment, that I think are very smart moves.
So I would leave you with, probably the biggest takeaway being the growth of the company, and looking at how much we’ve been able to expand our revenue. And how much we are strongly positioned for the future of AEW. And again, I think now is the perfect time growing our revenue to reinvest in the business, and perfect timing as we’re going into Double or Nothing, for me to double down on AEW for the future, because AEW will be around for a very, very long time.
Khan is an analytics guy, so I find it very hard to believe that he needs “all the figures in front of me” to definitively say if AEW is profitable. I’m pretty sure he is familiar with the numbers and knows off the top of his head whether the answer to that question is a yes or no.
That being said, while it sounds to me like a lot of AEW’s expenses are eating into that very high revenue, it can also be true that AEW’s financial outlook is strong as a result of whatever these “big investments” are that Khan says will help grow the company.
Based on Khan’s answer, how confident are you that AEW’s future has never been brighter, or is at least fine even in the face of the uncertainty surrounding Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery? Let me know in the comments below if you believe Khan when he says AEW will be around for a “very long time.”
