Details on AEW’s Deal With Esports Stadium Arlington

Details what AEW is paying for use of Esports Stadium Arlington. Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Wrestling company All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is getting a 50% discount on the “Road to All In,” a series of shows being held at Esports Stadium Arlington as a lead-up to All In, its biggest event of the year at Wembley Stadium in London Aug. 25. The news comes from wrestling business publication Wrestlenomics and reporter Brandon Thurston, who collected the information from documents received through a freedom of information act (FOA) request to the City of Arlington, Texas.

In case you’re not familiar, the City of Arlington has a 10-year contract with Esports Venues, LLC, to operate esports events out of the venue, but the city reserves the right to sign deals for other activities within the space if it so chooses. In January 2019, Envy Gaming took over Esports Venues from Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman and other investors for an undisclosed amount. Envy was rebranded to OpTic Gaming in 2022, following a merger with the company in November 2021.

According to Thurston’s reporting, AEW is paying a 50% discounted rate of $232K USD to the Arlington Expo Center and Esports Venues to use the Esports Stadium for dates in July and August, and a term sheet suggests that some costs could be offset through a separate agreement with the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Arlington Sports Commission that will “seek rental offset from the Arlington Tourism Public Improvement District.” AEW will pay Esports Venues $120K for the use of the venue’s broadcast suite and equipment and $112K to the Arlington Expo Center for use of the facility.

AEW will hold five Collision shows during its time in Arlington (four of which will be broadcast on Turner Media-owed cable channel TNT), as well as several unannounced Ring of Honor tapings, and the ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV. City records also show that the venue will be scaled for 1,290 seats, priced at roughly $45.02, according to Wrestlenomics.

The schedule is as follows (does not include details on any ROH events, beyond the PPV):

• July 20 – AEW: Collision
• July 26 – ROH: Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view
• July 27 – AEW: Collision
• Aug. 1 – AEW: Collision
• Aug. 10 – AEW: Collision
• Aug. 17 – AEW: Collision

It should be noted that AEW will move in and out of Esports Stadium Arlington in between shows from July 19 – Aug. 18—likely to lower costs and allow the venue to operate other events. Finally, the price does not include additional fees payable to Arlington Expo Center for personnel, equipment usage, staging rentals, chair rentals, catering, security, and more.

For a complete (and frankly, more in-depth breakdown), check out this story on Wrestlenomics.

Esports Stadium Arlington serves as the home of OpTic Gaming, which operates a Halo team (Optic Halo) and Call of Duty League franchise OpTic Texas. At the end of May, OpTic Texas beat Toronto Ultra on its home turf 4-0 in the Grand Finals of CDL Major III to be crowned the CDL Major III champions.

The Esports Advocate reached out to OpTic Gaming prior to the publication of this story, but it did not respond, as of this writing.