Tony Khan Explains What He’s Looking For In Potential ROH Media Rights Deal

In 2021, Tony Khan acquired Ring of Honor Wrestling from Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Since his acquisition, ROH events have lived on HonorClub, though there has been much discussion regarding a potential TV deal for the company.

Speaking on the ROH Final Battle media call, Tony was asked by Jonathan Alba of Sports Illustrated what he’s looking for in a potential media partner.

“It has to be the right fit and, to me, it’s gotta be the right media partner, but also, the money has to be right. It has to be a combination of the two things. There are times where we’ve had great media offers, and there were times we’ve had offers of money, and when they line up with the right media partner and right money…certainly, when you get a deal like we got with TBS, TNT, and HBO Max, that’s one of those great situations. It’s the perfect combination,” said Tony.

He went on to discuss the AEW TV deal and how it’s grown over time.

“I love ROH, but I’m very cognizant that it may not get the exact same media rights as AEW, but it does have to be something that makes sense. I would like to put it on TV to get the maximum eyeballs on it. For me to pull it out from a paywall, where it’s doing very well, especially this year.

“I want people to see it, but it’s important to look at a media rights deal and say, ‘Is the partnership perfect for ROH and are the seeds commensurate with what I think ROH can command in the market?’ I’m happy to wait. There is not the urgency because we’ve been having a great year with it. When the time is right, I now we’ll get the right deal for ROH and it’ll make sense. We have to keep evaluating it. It has to be the right combination of partner, money, and time.”

Earlier in the call, Kevin Kellam of Sportskeeda asked about a potential media rights deal for ROH, and Khan stated once again that he’s had offers in the past.

“I’ve had great offers to put ROH on TV. Right now, we have a streaming service, and I have had an opportunity at times to move ROH to TV, and from great media partners. Right now, we have to look at the AEW situation. AEW has a media rights deal with a half-billion dollar contract. Given that I have a half a billion dollar contract to produce wrestling, I really want to make sure I get a good rights fee, and the situation for ROH is not necessarily equal or greater than, but I want to get a rights fee that makes sense and the perfect situation with a media partner,” he said.

Fans can find Tony’s past comments on a potential ROH deal here.