TNA News: Dixie Carter claims in SI feature that TNA has been "cash flow positive for four or five years," feels the Hulk Hogan signing was worthwhile, responds to sale rumors, and much more

TNA president Dixie Carter was profiled in a Sports Illustrated feature written by Loretta Hunt. The following are the highlights of piece, which can be read in full at Sportsillustrated.cnn.com.

Carter on how she sold her father on purchasing the company: "I remember calling my dad. They'd never invested in anything that was non-strategic, much less this non-strategic, but I definitely had inherited my dad's sale skills. I knew there was a reason there's a Lowes across the street from every Home Depot or a McDonalds and a Burger King or an Avis and a Hertz. I saw how passionate this fanbase was. You had this one monster with over a billion-dollar cap and worldwide appeal with tons of potential revenue streams. Even if you just pick up 10 percent, you become a 100 million dollar company. From a business perspective, I just saw the potential."

Carter claims that TNA has been making money for several years: "Once we got on Spike, we changed a lot of things and our revenues grew," she said. "We've been cash flow positive for the last four or five years. After that point, Panda stopped putting money in the company. We've funded it with every dollar we've made and maybe that's kept us from growing quite as fast."

Carter on sale rumors: "This type of reporting is totally unsubstantiated. The truth is this is not the first time [it's been reported]. This is about the tenth, eleventh or twelfth time over 11 or 12 years that this has been said or that we're going out of business. I've been hearing this rumor since we were four weeks into this company. It's disappointing when a person makes a sweeping statement as fact.

Carter on signing Hulk Hogan: "Yes, I think Hulk has been worth it. He's opened a lot of doors for us. When you're about to lose a deal in an international territory and one phone call from Hulk Hogan makes a man who doesn't even speak your language melt and you get your deal back, that carries a lot of weight. There's not another guy out there who could do that."

Carter on the contract status of Hogan and A.J. Styles: "If we're gonna have contract issues, let's play it out on TV. That's drama. Is he going to sign? Is he not going to? That's drama and it's real. I don't have a contract with AJ and I don't have one with Hulk and others are coming up."

Carter on taking Impact on the road: ""We went on the road thinking if we could sell 1,500-2,000 tickets, we'd be good. We went in with a very conservative budget. We didn't come out here thinking we'd sell out arenas. The truth is we exceeded those budget numbers. We hit our revenue numbers, but we overspent when it came to loading out of the Universal studio. There was a two-month overlap that cost us."

Powell's POV: I have a really hard time believing that TNA has been self sufficient an turned a profit for the last four or five years. As for Hogan, he does open doors, but what did TNA do once they got inside those doors? Furthermore, I don't know that anyone reputable has recently reported that TNA is going out of business, but rather that there is a party who has spoken with the company about purchasing a majority interest. The story also features quotes from Jeff Hardy, ODB, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and others. It's a must read feature even though I am highly skeptical of some of the things that Carter had to say.