AEW to hold first live event in France this fall

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A supporter of Paris Musketeers' team cheers during a European League of Football US football game between Paris Musketeers and Frankfurt Galaxy at Stade Jean Bouin, in Paris, on June 9, 2024. | Photo by JULIE SEBADELHA/AFP via Getty Images In professional tennis, the Grand Slam consists of winning the Australian, French and United States Open Tournaments, along with the All England Club’s Wimbledon. AEW launched its Grand Slam franchise at the home of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadow’s Arthur Ashe Stadium. It’s been to Australia. There hasn’t been an AEW Grand Slam show in England, but if we give them partial credit for Grand Slam Mexico AND the various PPVs and TVs from the UK… the French edition announced today (Aug. 24) could complete AEW’s Slam: My only quibble with GM05’s take is that I wouldn’t give SBJ credit for “breaking the news”, but I won’t hold it against 05… the writer and their editors did a good job burying the “Sponsored Content” tag at the bottom of their “article”… Here’s the full press release Tony Khan paid to have published like a news article*: AEW Grand Slam heads to Paris as promotion targets European growth All Elite Wrestling will stage its first live event in France this fall when “AEW Grand Slam: France” takes place at Adidas Arena in Paris on Oct. 6.The show will include tapings of both “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Collision.” Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Friday, Aug. 28, at 10 a.m. CEST through AEWTix.com and LiveNation.fr. Fans can also register for early access presale opportunities by signing up as AEW Insiders on the company’s website. The Paris event will air on TBS and HBO Max and marks the ninth edition of the Grand Slam series, following previous specials in New York, Brisbane, Mexico City and Sydney. AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan said France emerged as a logical next step because of the number of French fans traveling to London for AEW shows like “All In” and Paris’ status as a marquee global sports and entertainment market. “There are so many great wrestling fans in France, and a lot of fans from France have made the trek to London to see AEW, and we believe there’s a lot of excitement around All Elite Wrestling in Paris, and it just felt like this would be the perfect time to launch with a huge event,” Khan said. Khan said he is hopeful AEW can run additional events in France and “continue to make Paris a major live event site” for the company. Still, the success of AEW’s first French event will be judged by its attendance, live-event revenue and viewership. Adidas Arena, which opened in 2024 and cost approximately $150M, has a capacity of 8,000 seats. AEW’s most recent Grand Slam event in Mexico saw an attendance of over 13,000 at Arena México in Mexico City. Over the course of its eight Grand Slam events, the company has averaged over 12,000 in attendance. AEW star Will Ospreay said he wants Paris to be part of a broader, long-term European strategy. Ospreay has wrestled in France twice and described those events as “absolutely breathtaking,” with crowds that felt more like a football atmosphere than a typical wrestling show, adding that French fans are “rowdy,” and “starved” for major televised shows and willing to travel for big events. “I don’t need to watch [the market] because I’ve experienced it before, and I just know the moment that we go over there and the bell goes off, the French fans are going to let us know they want us to keep coming back,” Ospreay said. AEW is set for a busy end to its summer as “AEW All In: London,” one of the promotion’s premier pay-per-views, is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, at Wembley Stadium in London. Other than my not-insubstantial issues with corporate-owned and co-opted news outlets, I share GM05’s excitement for AEW’s expansion into the European market. Let us know what you think of Grand Slam France and TK’s global strategy in the comments below. * Before anyone accuses me of Fed-brain or anything, here I am bemoaning WWE’s paid news relationship (along with the general state of the media and world) on this very website.