Tony Khan: Building AEW into a Billion-Dollar Brand and Competing with Wrestling Giants | E106
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What inspired Tony Khan's passion for sports and wrestling?
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Tony Khan, founder and CEO of All Elite Wrestling, very involved in the NFL, Jacksonville Jaguars and football and many other ventures.
AEW is a challenger brand competing in an industry where the industry leader historically has been the most adept company at crippling and smashing their competitors in the history of business. I found it very interesting what was happening with the media rights in the wrestling business.
How did Tony transition from engineering to finance?
The rights fees for the wrestling shows went up, and it was really only one company that was producing that product at the time, and that was WWE. It occurred to me that somebody could launch a new wrestling promotion. Now, AEW, in 2025, we're on over 150 countries now.
How do you get started with such an audacious goal, if you will?
Well, you have to build credibility and the best way to do that is.
What innovative strategies did Tony implement at the Jaguars?
Tony Khan, founder and CEO of All Elite Wrestling, valued at, I don't know, $2 billion? Like, come on. He completely shaken the wrestling world. And he's also an investor very involved in the NFL, Jacksonville Jaguars, and football, and many other ventures. You are going to love this today because I want to learn together with you, how does somebody... influence such a big industry with existing big players. So get ready for a fascinating show about taking bold action. Tony, thank you for being here.
Thank you for having me. It's very kind of you and I'm excited to be on the show and great to see you.
It's going to be amazing. So take us back in time. You are a fan of sports from very early age. Tell me, what was the obsession about sports?
Growing up as a kid, I was really obsessed with television and exciting television. And sports is, to me, the most exciting television. But I watched a lot of TV and I watched a lot of sports and I watched a lot of cartoons and action shows. So I watched G.I. Joe and the host of G.I. Joe, and he was a character in the show, was Sergeant Slaughter. And Sergeant Slaughter is also a wrestler. So that helped me start to watch wrestling. I also watched The A-Team, which is a great show. I don't know if you watched The A-Team, but it was a fantastic show.
How did Tony Khan overcome challenges at Fulham FC?
I was busy watching Smurfs. Like, I don't know what was...
Yeah, sure. First was a great show. That's not as much the stuff I was into, though. I did like some cartoons. I like more superheroes, the Justice League, Super Friends, but also a lot of action shows like The A-Team, which was a great show. And... Hulk Hogan was a character that appeared sometimes as Hulk Hogan on the A-Team. And he was supposed to be a friend who was in Vietnam with Mr. T, which is pretty unbelievable in hindsight, given their ages and time with this show. But AEW was something that I dreamed of for many, many years. I grew up as a kid loving pro wrestling. I started watching TV as a kid. I had a TV in my room and my parents had a satellite dish in the backyard in the 80s.
Did they love sports as well? Were they watching? Was you or I know your dad was a fan, but were they also watching sports or were they like, what on earth is Tony watching?
What led to the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW)?
No, my parents liked sports. I grew up in Champaign, Illinois, and the University of Illinois sports are a huge part of living in central Illinois. People follow Illinois football and basketball really closely. So I grew up watching a lot of football and basketball, especially the Illini, but also the NFL and the NBA and followed other sports too, baseball and soccer and other things.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Tony Khan's passion for sports and wrestling?
0:19–1:08
2
How did Tony transition from engineering to finance?
1:08–1:47
3
What innovative strategies did Tony implement at the Jaguars?
1:47–3:18
4
How did Tony Khan overcome challenges at Fulham FC?
3:18–4:21
5
What led to the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW)?
4:21–5:47
6
How did AEW earn trust in the competitive wrestling industry?
5:47–7:27
7
What challenges did AEW face during the pandemic?
7:27–11:03
8
What is the secret to Tony Khan's success in media and entertainment?
11:03–51:02
Speakers
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