Tony Khan, Nick Khan & several TKO executives recognized as Variety ‘Dealmakers’
Image: JJ Williams
Pro wrestling was well-represented in this year’s ‘Dealmakers’ list by entertainment publication Variety.
Announced on Wednesday, AEW head Tony Khan, WWE president Nick Khan, and several TKO executives (Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and Andrew Schleimer) were named to the list which recognizes major players and deal makers in the entertainment business.
Khan was actually the first name listed in the feature and made it based on the new “reported $185 million a year” multi-year deal he signed with WBD to keep Dynamite and Collision on TBS/TNT in addition to being simulcast on Max.
The article also stated, “The company is now valued at more than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable combat sports company in the world.” They did not cite their source for the valuation.
A quote from Khan touted that AEW will be “the first professional wrestling promotion to simulcast events weekly on top cable channels and a top streaming platform.”
Nick Khan and the TKO executives were all listed in their own blurb, citing the massive decade-long $5.2 billion deal they signed with Netflix for WWE content. There were no quotes from Khan and just a relatively boilerplate note from Schleimer on “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.”