Things over at TNA could definitely be better. The company is trying to find a buyer (even though they have several interested buyers and somehow remain unable to finalize a deal), they’re being sued by company president Billy Corgan, they’re being sued by American Express for unpaid travel expenses, they have a lien on them from the state of Tennessee and no one is really sure if they’ll still be in business when 2017 rolls around.
On Wednesday, the parent company of Fight Network answered at least one question that had been a mystery up until now: they were the ones who helped fund the last round of TNA television tapings, which will ensure the company remains on POP TV through the end of 2016. What’s more, they are offering to set up a structure that will allow TNA to repay Corgan the not-insignificant amount of money he is owed.
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.”
It is clear that Anthem is interested in purchasing the company (or at least a larger stake in the company), and the offer of funding to pay off Corgan is likely an attempt to remove any obligation that Impact Wrestling has to him, which would make him a less desirable buyer (or he would at least have the company less over a barrel regarding this whole debacle).
Again, we’ll just have to wait and see how this all shakes out. But at least ONE of the questions surrounding TNA has been answered. Maybe.
