Report: AEW "In The Red" Due To Video Game Deal

New details on AEW's financials, including an eight-figure video game sum.

Tony Khan
AEW

Spending an undisclosed eight-figure sum on video game development is currently keeping All Elite Wrestling from turning a profit.

AEW founder and CEO Tony Khan was profiled by Forbes' Hank Tucker yesterday, with the writeup revealing that the promotion's investment into game development was keeping it in the red.

Khan anticipates that AEW's wrestling division will be profitable in 2021.

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With the sport finally emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, the company's coffers will be bolstered by increased ticket sales and in-arena merchandise purchases at live events, though these will both be offset somewhat by the cost of touring.

The report also notes that AEW received $43.75 in television rights fees from TNT last year. This figure could increase in 2021, with multiple outlets reporting the group received an "eight-figure sum" ahead of Rampage's Friday night debut and Dynamite moving from TNT to TBS in 2022.

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AEW's first video game, AEW Casino: Double Or Nothing, is currently available on mobile app stores. The Aubrey Edwards-helmed AEW Elite GM is currently at its beta testing stage, while the promotion's mainline console game is operating on a longer timeframe. All three were announced by the promotion in November 2020.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.