Cronyism at the Crossroads: Anthem’s Multi-Million Dollar Gamble on Carlos Silva
In an era where sports executives are hired less for vision than for connections, TNA Wrestling’s fate now hangs on a leader chosen by friendship, not wrestling knowledge.
The Crossroads
TNA Wrestling hasn’t stood at a crossroads like this in over a decade. The partnership with WWE’s NXT injected Anthem’s flagship brand with a jolt of legitimacy few predicted in 2024. Now, with momentum building, media rights negotiations are underway, and insiders estimate that a multi-million dollar package, potentially exceeding $10 million, could be on the table.
But beneath the headlines, the math is dire. According to multiple sources, TNA has been bleeding $5–8 million annually, and Anthem chairman Len Asper has reportedly given a one-year directive: get profitable, or prepare for a transactional exit. The runway is short, and the stakes are enormous.
The Hire
To lead this turnaround, Anthem retained executive search firm TurnkeyZRG to run what was billed as an “independent” process for a new President of Anthem Sports Group, the division overseeing TNA, Invicta FC, and Fight Network.
As Rick Alessandri himself advertised on LinkedIn, he and the recruiting firm were seeking “a visionary senior leader with deep live events experience and a track record of success in elevating global brands and driving revenue growth.”
The process ultimately delivered Carlos Silva in December 2024. As Sports Business Journal confirmed, Silva was placed through TurnkeyZRG and reported directly to Anthem CEO Len Asper.
That “friend” was not a bystander. Alessandri was the recruiter running the search, as Sports Business Journal confirmed . Both also hold senior roles at SeventySix Capital, raising further questions about whether this was a truly independent process.
On paper, Silva’s résumé is broad:
COO at Barrett-Jackson
CEO of C360, creators of the NFL’s PylonCam
CEO of the Professional Fighters League (formerly WSOF)
Roles at NBC Universal Sports and World TeamTennis
But in pro wrestling? Minimal product knowledge, according to multiple insiders. Sources described Silva’s interview process as shaky. Wrestling terminology wasn’t there. Knowledge of the nuances of the business was absent. Instead, Silva leaned on buzzwords and résumé lines.
“He threw around a lot of weight he couldn’t carry,” one source said.
But knowing a distributor is not the same as knowing the wrestling product. Multiple insiders involved in his interviews described gaps in terminology and nuance. Distribution history does not erase that disconnect.
The Process
Here’s where governance breaks down. The recruiter who led Anthem’s search, Rick Alessandri, isn’t just a consultant. Alessandri openly admitted to also being a 30-year friend of Silva’s, and a colleague at SeventySix Capital, where both men hold senior roles:
Put plainly: Anthem paid for independence, but the process delivered the recruiter’s longtime friend and colleague.
The Fallout
Silva’s arrival coincided with a purge. Multiple Anthem/TNA executives who had built the WWE/NXT bridge and fueled TNA’s momentum were pushed out. Those exits gutted institutional knowledge and left Silva holding the wheel.
Much of the momentum Silva now points to was already loaded in 2024 and 2025, through events like Slammiversary, Emergence, and the NXT crossover; initiatives forged under the executives who were later purged. Insiders argue that the very people responsible for building that foundation were removed just as it began to pay off.
Since then, sources say Silva has leaned heavily on CAA to steer Anthem’s media rights negotiations… outsourcing the very deal that will earmark and highlight his tenure.
The irony is that much of TNA’s current momentum was already in motion before Silva’s first day. In 2024, crossovers with WWE’s NXT and AAA had already been staged, building credibility and buzz. By January 16, 2025, WWE and TNA jointly announced a multi-year partnership just weeks after Silva started.
That groundwork carried directly into Slammiversary 2025, which drew one of the largest TNA crowds in years at UBS Arena. Insiders argue the executives purged during Silva’s arrival were the very ones responsible for setting up this success.
The WSOF Precedent
This isn’t Silva’s first brush with turbulence. Before Anthem, he was CEO of the World Series of Fighting (WSOF).
WSOF launched in 2012, with Ray Sefo running fight operations.
By 2016, Silva was CEO, while Ali Abdelaziz served as EVP and matchmaker.
In December 2015, Abdelaziz exited under pressure after the Nevada Athletic Commission raised conflict-of-interest concerns about him managing fighters while also serving as a promoter official.
In 2017, an investor group acquired WSOF’s assets, rebranding as the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Silva became President.
That same year, a former WSOF treasurer filed a civil lawsuit naming Silva and owner Bruce Deifik in financial disputes tied to the transition (allegations that were never adjudicated).
As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once wrote:
“A page of history is worth a volume of logic.”
The WSOF history suggests a pattern of governance issues and short-lived stability under Silva’s leadership. He often frames his WSOF tenure as proof of deep combat-sports knowledge. The record tells a different story.
The HR Problem: Meritocracy or Myth?
The Silva hire reflects a broader crisis in sports executive recruitment. In theory, firms like TurnkeyZRG promise meritocracy: delivering leaders who can drive sustained growth. In practice, critics argue, the system rewards familiarity, favors, and networks.
Anthem’s case is telling: executives who built tangible momentum were discarded, replaced by a hire chosen through unclear metrics, possibly including personal relationships.
It’s not unique. Turnkey has also overseen leadership searches for the Professional Fighters League, a property that has faced criticism for inconsistent vision and leadership churn.
The grievance runs deeper than one hire. As one industry veteran put it: “Meritocracy is dead in this business. People aren’t hired to build for the long haul. They’re hired to make someone happy, or to repay a favor owed.”
The Stakes
The math doesn’t lie:
$5–8 million in annual losses
12 months to profitability
A potential $10M+ media rights deal hanging in the balance
Leadership churn, leaving a President whom some say lacks the product knowledge to deliver
This isn’t just purely about optics. It’s about whether Anthem entrusted its most valuable asset to the right steward… and in this writer’s opinion, it doesn’t seem that way at all.
The Narrative
Think about the irony. Anthem wanted a visionary to guide its sports portfolio into profitability. I
nstead, they hired a President through a process run by his longtime friend, discarding executives who had actually created momentum.
Even recent coverage describing TNA’s “reinvigoration” credits the moment more to the timing of the WWE/NXT partnership and expansion into major markets than to any single executive’s six-month strategy. Insiders argue Silva is riding a wave he did not create, but one generated before he walked in the door.
If the point of paying a search firm is to avoid the “old boys’ club,” what does it say when the recruiter delivers his own buddy?
Ultima Sententia
TNA is at its most important moment in decades: a WWE crossover, a pending rights deal, and a one-year runway to survival. And yet Anthem’s future rests in the hands of a President whose product knowledge was questioned in the interview room.
Maybe that’s legal. Maybe it’s business as usual. But it looks like something else: the new age of sports executives… a class hired less for long-term growth than for favors, optics, and comfort.
As Napoleon once said:
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.”
In sports governance, perhaps cronyism isn’t either. But for Anthem, betting TNA’s future on a relative pro wrestling novice may be the most expensive gamble of all.
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Blake Avignon is the pseudonym of a strategist and media executive who has worked across the UFC, F1, MLB, NBA, and NFL: building brands, brokering partnerships, and reshaping the future of sports and entertainment from the inside.