Tony Khan: AEW Grand Slam Australia was always planned as a TV event

Tony Khan says AEW Grand Slam Australia was always planned to be a TV event.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, February 15th at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and will air as a two-hour special episode of AEW Collision at 10:30 PM Eastern on TNT following coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend.

On Wednesday, TV Insider published an interview with Khan, in which he stated that TNT saw an opportunity in scheduling Grand Slam after NBA All-Star Saturday.

“This will be one of the biggest TV events of the year. This will arguably be the biggest TV card of the year,” Khan said of the upcoming show in Brisbane.

“Having this be a TV event has always been the plan. That’s something that the network wanted. It’s something the network brought to us recently as an opportunity to follow NBA All-Star Saturday. We saw it as a huge opportunity. It was a great vote of confidence for our partners at Warner Brothers Discovery. It will be one of the biggest nights of the year on TNT. It’s a great opportunity given the lead-in.”

The show was initially scheduled for Suncorp Stadium but was moved to the smaller Brisbane Entertainment Centre, which some have speculated was due to low ticket sales. Some fans also believed the event would be a pay-per-view rather than a TV special.

The AEW president also discussed his company’s performance on Max thus far. Khan says that while he does not have all the numbers, he’s been told that AEW is one of the top sports leagues on the streaming service.

“We don’t have all the numbers for the Max launch, but we’ve been told that AEW is one of the top sports leagues for Max for viewership. That’s really exciting. It bodes well for the partnership for many years to come.”

AEW Dynamite airs tonight on both TBS and Max. The show will emanate from College Park, Georgia, and feature Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet in a long-standing grudge match.