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By Sean Radican and James Caldwell, PWTorch Staff
At the beginning of this year, there were talks of TNA looking to sell to an outside investor or Ring of Honor’s parent company Sinclair Broadcasting.
Then, Billy Corgan essentially saved the company from an embarrassing financial situation surrounding the Slammiversary PPV in June and has pumped enough money into the company to become president.
Now, Sinclair is back in the mix as a potential buyer along with WWE. Neither has expressed serious or formal interest, but both are players to consider as this plays out following Corgan’s investment.
Both WWE and Sinclair are looking to get TNA for pennies on the dollar to be worthwhile. Sinclair would likely bring TNA alongside ROH to save costs and have two wrestling brands in its portfolio. Meanwhile, WWE is waiting for TNA to sort out the management situation before potentially making a formal offer.
The internal belief in TNA is that Corgan will eventually buy out the company and try to use his connections in the entertainment industry to rebuild.
The overall sale process is complicated because of Aroluxe Marketing’s involvement. Since Aroluxe has an official business interest in TNA and handles production payroll, buying out TNA would also require clearing Aroluxe’s financial stake.
Corgan is well-positioned in current talks to buy the company if Sinclair does not get the deal it’s looking for, or if WWE decides to walk away because they do not want to be involved in the aftermath of a messy TNA management hand-off. Or, if WWE decides that whatever value TNA’s tape library and roster provides is not worth the cost and effort.
The ongoing saga of whether TNA will be sold, and whether a buyer comes from outside of the company, will likely continue for the rest of the year.
No matter who buys TNA, it will be dirt cheap. If Dave Meltzer is correct (sometimes he is, sometimes he isn’t), Corgan put in a bid of just $4 million for the company (no surprise thought, considering the company has very few viewers and has a hard time getting anybody to attend shows). Though the reports are that WWE is only interested in buying the company to get its tape library.