The perception is not that Khan was a guy who shook up the industry and made it infinitely better for fans, wrestlers, and even those who have made it their priority to play on the AEW negativity. Many have knocked him while pretending the successful part never existed. There is the constant description of him as a money mark, a term used for a clueless person who spends a lot of money with no chance of being profitable.
Of course AEW’s books are largely closed. Khan signed his first TV deal, which only covered television production costs. It was a multi-year deal. While the “it’s not getting even a million viewers” club crowed while showing a total lack of understanding of what are strong numbers on cable, that first contract was torn up after three months and a paying deal was put in. That deal may have saved the company, given two months later we were in a pandemic and AEW couldn’t even run traditional television tapings and would have had no revenue coming in.
Whether they could have survived the pandemic under the old deal is a question, but in fact, there were points during the pandemic, that the company was profitable due to the new deal. But overall, the belief is the company has yet to turn a profit. In late 2022, the expectation was 2023 would be profitable. Most likely, due to the video game not being a success financially, that didn’t happen. Even after the third deal, for Collision and giving WBD exclusivity on all AEW television (eliminating the streaming shows) and WBD picking up the option for a for a fifth year with a major increase in rights for Dynamite, Khan has not indicated 2024 will turn a profit.
