Khan Says AEW Is Not Yet Negotiating Its Next TV Deal
Summary: AEW President Tony Khan said on the Full Gear media call on Thursday, Nov. 12, that AEW expects to renew its media rights deal but is not in formal negotiations, because the current deal has a lot of time left.
The quick version
- Khan said on the Full Gear media call on Thursday, Nov. 12, that AEW is "not really in the process" of negotiating a new media rights deal "because we still have a lot of time left."
- He said AEW will look to renew. He also said he is "not the person that's gonna chase people around and ask about contracts."
- POST Wrestling's notes of the call say Khan has met David Ellison four times and that there have been no formal negotiations.
AEW President Tony Khan said on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, that AEW is not in formal talks on its next media rights deal. He was answering reporters on the media call ahead of AEW Full Gear on Saturday. Fightful's Andrew Thompson and POST Wrestling's Jason Ounpraseuth both wrote up the call. We did not hear it, so every Khan quote below is as printed by Fightful.
What Khan said
Asked about the next deal, Khan first spoke about the plan to sell HBO Max and Paramount+ together. "I think Warner Bros. and Paramount can be a great team," he said. "They've talked about a bundle with HBO Max and Paramount+. I think that creates great opportunities for AEW to grow our viewership."
On talks, he said: "Absolutely, we'll be looking to a contract renewal; we're not really in the process of doing that as a negotiation right now because we still have a lot of time left." He added: "I'm not the person that's gonna chase people around and ask about contracts."
POST's notes add more. Khan told reporters he has met Ellison four times, that Ellison "has a high opinion of AEW," and that there have been no formal negotiations. POST says Khan described the domestic media rights as AEW's main source of revenue, and that his goal is the best deal possible, "playing for my home team," not the highest-dollar one. Those lines come from POST's summary. We have not checked them against a recording.
Where the deal stands
The reports we have read do not agree on when AEW's current deal ends. Fightful says it runs through 2027. Wrestling Inc has said it keeps the shows on TNT and TBS through at least 2028, and F4W Online reported an end-of-2027 term with an option year. Our bundle story sets out the difference. Khan gave no end date on the call as printed.
Khan's answer is on the record, so this story is CONFIRMED. It reports what he said. It does not say what Skydance will do. Dave Meltzer's view that nothing is guaranteed is a separate, unconfirmed item. See our rumor story on it.
What to watch next
Any AEW or Skydance statement on a renewal date. Neither has given one that we could find.
Sources
- Fightful (Andrew Thompson), "Tony Khan Discusses Negotiations For New AEW Media Rights Deal: 'I'm Not The Person That's Gonna Chase People Around & Ask About Contracts'", Nov. 12, 2026, 2:37 pm, no time zone shown (all Khan quotes, the deal running through 2027). https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/tony-khan-discusses-negotiations-for-new-aew-media-rights-deal-im-not-the-person-thats-gonna-chase-people-around-ask-about-contracts/
- POST Wrestling (Jason Ounpraseuth), "Tony Khan's Full Gear 2026 Media Call Notes: Relationship with Skydance and David Ellison, recruiting Marcus Mathers, The Cut's name creation", Nov. 12, 2026 (meetings with Ellison, no formal negotiations, "has a high opinion of AEW", "playing for my home team"). https://www.postwrestling.com/2026/11/12/tony-khans-full-gear-2026-media-call-notes-relationship-with-skydance-and-david-ellison-recruiting-marcus-mathers-the-cuts-name-creation/
- Wrestling Inc (Daisy Ruth), "Backstage Report On AEW Using Survivor Footage To Promote Brady Booker", Nov. 9, 2026, as cited in our earlier story (the "through at least 2028" term). No link: we did not re-read it for this story.
- F4W Online (Josh Nason), "Additional insights on WWE & Bleacher Report deal, how it affects AEW", Sept. 28, 2026, as cited in our earlier story (the end-of-2027 term with an option year). No link: we did not re-read it for this story.
- WrestlingNews.com, "HBO Max-Paramount+ Bundle Set for 2027; AEW Streams on HBO Max", Nov. 10, 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/hbo-max-paramount-bundle-early-2027-aew-streaming/
- WrestlingNews.com, "Rumor: Meltzer Says AEW's Future Under Skydance Is Not Safe", Nov. 11, 2026. https://wrestlingnews.com/story/rumor-meltzer-says-aew-future-under-skydance-not-guaranteed/
- WrestlingNews.com staff reporting: read the Fightful story in full and the POST Wrestling notes in full. We did not hear the media call and did not contact AEW or Skydance.
How we credit sources: Editorial standards.