Eric Bischoff Highlights Pros And Cons Of AEW Booking Smaller Venues

Tony Khan has been focused on expanding AEW's broadcasting reach in 2025, but has seemingly not put as much effort into fixing the attendance issues his company faces weekly. Photos of large portions of unsold seats are posted online with every AEW show, making many fans wonder why the company continues to book arenas it cannot fill. Eric Bischoff was asked on "83 Weeks" about AEW booking smaller venues and if they will make a difference for the show's feel.

"Yes, without question," Bischoff began to answer. "I don't want to sound like I don't have an opinion on this but here's what you gain, here's what you lose: what you gain is financial relief because you're not booking a 10,000 or 15,000-seat arena that you have to curtain off because you could only sell two thousand tickets; that's not smart."

"Easy E" added that AEW would gain a different level of energy with a smaller, more intimate audience. As emotion is catchy, enthusiasm and excitement might be easier to generate. Although Bischoff did not acknowledge it, the smaller, intimate crowds have been very successful for "WWE NXT" and TNA Wrestling, whose shows are known to have passionate fans who regularly fill many of the seats if not all.

"What you're going to lose though is the ambiance of a bigger arena, the credibility of a bigger arena," Bischoff continued. "To the viewer at home, it just feels less than; particularly when you're the challenger brand and keep drawing attention to yourself as challenging the WWE and comparing yourself to WWE... It'll be interesting to see how they manage it. The production values are going to deteriorate. It is what it is.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.