Image courtesy of the New York Times

SANTA CLARA, CA – Based on the title, you may be asking yourself why the heck I wanted to sit down with Tony Khan on Friday afternoon, given that we’re a New England football site.

Well, selfishly I’m a huge wrestling guy and it was a treat for me, but there’s also plenty of connections between Khan and some local angles.

First and foremost, Khan and his dad Shahid – the owner of the Jaguars –  hired former UMass alum Liam Coen this past season, with Coen having an incredible first year in Jacksonville. The Khan’s are also close with the Krafts.

Tony was extremely gracious with his time, spending about 10 minutes with me talking a little bit of everything. Here’s how the full interview went…

NEFJ: Thank you so much for taking the time, Tony. I’ll start with Liam Coen, who of course was a UMass guy. Why did you guys like him so much and how did he re-invigorate the franchise?

TK: “Liam Coen has so much knowledge and is a phenomenal leader. He’s a very young coach, but he’s gained a lot of experience and has risen through in the NFL, to become somebody that had a reputation – and results to back it up – to become one of the league’s top play callers. Then, when we met with Liam and interviewed him as a head coaching candidate, he had so many phenomenal qualities and my dad led a great process. Everybody involved felt like Liam was a tremendous choice to be a head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s done an amazing job. We have very high expectations and he’s been able to achieve so much already in his first year.

“Two of our goals were to win the AFC South and make the playoffs. Liam achieved both of those things in his first year. I was so happy for the Jaguars fans and for everybody that works for the team, especially this group of players. Liam is tremendous at coaching individual talent, but he’s also so tremendous at leading a group and building a team.”

NEFJ: How important is it for AEW to be out at a Super Bowl to promote the company? I’ve seen a ton of wrestlers out here on Radio Row this week. 

TK: “This is fantastic. To be able to bring top stars from AEW to the biggest media weekend in the entire world, the Super Bowl is the greatest game, it’s the biggest event in all of sports and also, I believe, in all of sports media worldwide. For AEW to have a presence here is phenomenal for us. We announced a partnership between AEW and the NFL. We’re selling Lucha Libre masks for all 32 teams and they’ll be available night one of the NFL Draft, April 23. You can buy – for all 32 teams – an NFL, AEW mask on ShopAEW.com.

NEFJ: Alright, time for a true wrestling question. I’ve been to countless shows through the years since you guys started coming to the area, will AEW ever have a Pay Per View in Boston?

TK: “I definitely think Boston would be a fantastic city for an AEW Pay Per View. We’ve had huge events there. ‘AEW Big Business’ was wonderful. AEW Dynamite and at the MGM Fenway Music Hall, we set the record at ‘AEW Spring Breakthrough Dynamite,’ Wednesday Night Dynamite became the longest running primetime pro wrestling show in the history of TNT and TBS that night. It was a phenomenal night and so many of our great shows have been there. From the very beginning, our second episode ever was in 2019 in Boston. We’ve had so many milestone big events there over the years, I definitely think Boston would be a great place for a Pay Per View.”

NEFJ: Ok, two more quick questions for you…one, have you ever thought of, or talked to the Krafts about a stadium show at Gillette Stadium?

TK: “I have a great relationship with both Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft. I think they’re incredible people. I’m on the NFL Fan Engagement and Major Events Committee and Jonathan is the Chairman. He’s a brilliant guy. Mr. Robert Kraft is a great mentor of mine and friend to my family. I have at times had fun conversations in our spare time when we’re not working on the NFL about pro wrestling and what we do in AEW. They’re very supportive and great friends. We’ve never had any serious talks about AEW in Foxborough. It’s a fun thought you just brought up when you asked me about it. We’ve never really thought about that, but it’s an interesting thought.”

NEFJ: How about Fenway Park?

TK: “I had not ever thought about that. We just had some great events at the TD Garden and that was really cool to be able to go to TD Garden. When we launched AEW, we started at the Agganis Arena. We’ve run a number of different venues around Massachusetts now and there’s some great areas around Boston. I had never considered Fenway Park until you just brought it up. That’s interesting.”

NEFJ: Well, now I’m glad I did. Ok, last one for you…the transition between football players and wrestling has gone on for years, but it seems to happen now more than ever in the NIL Era where kids out of college who can’t continue their career turn to wrestling. How much do you think that will continue? 

TK: “I think they’re very different skillsets, but absolutely. The discipline and athletic ability it takes to make it into high levels of football – whether it’s college or the NFL, or most pro leagues – it takes an amazing athlete and a lot of hard work. Those are traits that will often lend themselves to success in wrestling, but wrestling is a very unique craft. There are many different ways to become a great wrestler. Having a love for wrestling and caring about what it takes to be a wrestler, it’s a very unpredictable thing, how somebody is going to fit into that world. It’s hard work to be a football player. It’s hard work to be a wrestler and there’s many football players that have gone on to become successful. It can become a great pathway, but there are a lot of different ways to become a wrestler.”

Once again, I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Tony Khan for his time and fantastic engagement during the interview. It was definitely a bucket list type of thing for me and hopefully, sets the wheels in motion for a partnership between the Krafts, Gillette Stadium and AEW in the future.