SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. issued a press release tonight stating that it has recently loaned TNA funding for operations and offered to replay the loans made to Billy Corgan. The statement adds that it is “positioned to provide additional transitional assistance to the company.”
Fight Network CEO Leonard Aspert praises TNA as a “strong property for Fight Network” and says they have “a keen interest in seeing the company not only survive, but continue to grow and thrive.”
“We are hopeful that the company can soon get back to doing what it does best, which is to produce great wrestling content,” he says in the prepared statement.
TNA has been at the center of an ownership struggle and news of various debtors coming after them in recent weeks. When there was doubt whether Bound for Glory would take place, billed annually as their biggest PPV, mystery funding came through at the last moment to produce the PPV and a week of TV tapings in Orlando. Anthem Sports is confirming they have provided vital funding to keep TNA afloat.
FULL PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS…
Toronto – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. (“Anthem”), the parent company of Fight Network, today confirmed that it recently made a working capital loan to fund the operations of TNA Impact Wrestling. Fight Network is a licensee of TNA programming for broadcast in the U.S., Canada and other international markets, and is also the exclusive licensee of TNA for streaming Internet-delivered TV.
Fight Network has also offered to provide TNA Impact Wrestling with funding to repay the loans made by Mr. Billy Corgan and is positioned to provide additional transitional assistance to the company.
“TNA is a strong property for Fight Network and as a licensee and global distribution partner we have a keen interest in seeing the company not only survive but continue to grow and thrive, alongside our own growth,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem. “We are hopeful that the company can soon get back to doing what it does best, which is to produce great wrestling content.”
About Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. is a global leader in operating targeted specialty video channels on linear, digital and mobile platforms with offices and studios in New York, Toronto, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Anthem’s portfolio includes Fight Network, the world’s premier combat sports channel now broadcasting in the U.S., Canada and over 30 other countries, Fantasy Sports Network (FNTSY), the world’s first and only channel dedicated to fantasy sports, RotoExperts.com, a leader in fantasy sports news and analysis, DailyRoto.com, the most comprehensive and far-reaching daily fantasy sports website and Edge Sport, an extreme and action sports network recently launched in Canada in partnership with IMG. Anthem also has a significant ownership interest in Pursuit Channel, one of the top outdoor channels in the U.S. available in over 40 million homes, and it owns SportsGrid.com, a leader in general sports entertainment commentary.
This is positive news for TNA. Let them be the majority owner or at least 50% of the company. What makes TNA still viable are those international TV deals. That’s why ROH’s parent company wanted to buy TNA, to get a piece of that revenue which has always been said to be lucrative.
TNA will never produce great wrestling content and they will never grow and thrive. Whoever is financing this gigantic money pit is flushing money down the toilet.