>>14561491>If you look at the economics of this stuff, it's clear that the only path to profitability is TV rightsIt is not my intention to split too many hairs or get caught up in the minutia, but this is not a very accurate statement at all. The reason WWE is so insanely profitable is because they insist on making profits in everything they do: house shows, video games, merchandise, everything.
AEW dropped a video game that was poorly developed, poorly marketed and it subsequently failed.
AEW merchandise stands at shows are routinely bereft of items, so many fans walk home empty handed.
AEW shows are poorly promoted, the arenas are too big and the crowd being catered-to is at-home smarks--not in-attendance families.
AEW performers are routinely paid to sit at home and do nothing, or paid $200-400K salaries to wrestle once per week for the ROH website
AEW social media is a compendium of clips and full videos with little thought given to developing crossover appeal or recruiting a younger fanbase
These things are all combined with paying talents WWE-level money, from a company that makes 1/6th the revenue and is nowhere near profitability
Tony Khan appears to have no concern over making profits - his overarching concern is whether or not his company is viewed as successful. That is to say: AEW chases revenue opportunities, not in pursuit of profits, but to give the appearance of a successful company. With WWE, the reverse is very much the case: they don't give a motherfucking god damn if other people want to say they're more successful than before, less successful, ascendant, on the decline, doesn't matter: profitability matters. Then, now, forever, id est, they have both current and future revenue streams they are constantly developing.
It's a giant pie and TV rights are only one slice of it.
