Tony Khan has further detailed how he prides himself on creating a product with AEW that listens to the fans while also speaking about shows being streamed on Max.
All Elite Wrestling has come a long way since its beginning in 2019. Initially a start-up wrestling promotion, AEW went on to secure a media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery that has 2 weekly TV shows along with an extensive pay-per-view line-up each year.
In late 2024, AEW secured a new media rights deal with WBD that also saw Dynamite and Collision become available on the Max streaming service, allowing the company to reach more fans with a wider reach.
Although the show quality dipped in 2024, which saw the ratings and live attendance affected, fans have seen an improvement in 2025. While speaking with The Toronto Sun about the new media rights deal and the game-changer that is the Max deal, Khan also noted how he loves to hear fan feedback:
“What’s really changed for us this year; It’s been a true game-changer and sport-changer for AEW; it’s changed the whole marketplace for us in terms of AEW’s wrestling landscape. It’s Max, the streaming service. Having AEW on Max has helped us reach new viewers, a new audience, a younger audience, all kinds of people who have never seen AEW before, maybe even some cord-cutters that have gotten away from cable, coming back into AEW. We’re still seeing record viewership on TSN, TBS, and TNT. The audience all went up from Q4 to Q1, even though we started streaming, more people are watching on cable, which is the complete opposite of what every analyst would’ve expected.
We’ve grown our cable numbers as we expanded into the streaming universe, and that move to streaming has injected a lifeblood into AEW that’s been a really positive thing for the wrestlers, the staff, and the fans in 2025. The most important thing we’re doing is great shows every week. Every Wednesday and Saturday, the shows have really delivered, and our fans have been behind the company. Our fans love wrestling, they’re vocal, and we listen. I love hearing when they enjoy it and I want to lean into things they like. It can’t be the same show every week. It has to be different things, but trying to produce shows that our fans like is something we want to do and we have been doing a great job of in 2025,”
Tony Khan Prepares For AEW Double Or Nothing
On May 25th, AEW will present the 7th Double or Nothing event, which will likely be headlined by the return of the Anarchy in the Arena match. The show has established itself as one of the biggest AEW events on the calendar, mostly due to the significance of the first-ever PPV back in 2019.
H/t to Fightful.
Featured image: AEW
