Actor Stephen Amell's biggest claim to fame to date is his starring role as Oliver Queen in The CW's Arrow, and he definitely deserves credit for launching The CW's empire of DC TV shows. After all, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and even Supergirl probably never would have happened if not for Amell's work on Arrow. As it turns out, however, it's his work off-screen that may be the most lucrative for him in the long run. Stephen Amell makes an insane amount of money on the convention circuit.
Stephen Amell's fans are willing to dish out a pretty penny to interact with him at various conventions. He currently charges $80 for a photo op during appearances at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest, and a convention insider has reported that he can walk away with up to $250,000 for a weekend with fans. Amell reportedly disputes that figure, which would be even more than he earns per episode as the star of his own series. Folks from The CW's DC series can receive anything from $35,000 to $250,000 as a guaranteed rate just for attending as talent. They can earn from $50,000 to $100,000 for additional work, such as with photo ops, autograph signings, and even table selfies. It's no wonder Amell is so willing to give up his weekends for so many fan events.
The Arrow star has another way to earn even more money at conventions, and it's actually pretty genius. Instead of working the convention circuit via outside agencies, Stephen Amell started his own talent agency called WFA Entertainment. Running his own agency allows him to avoid paying fees himself to book conventions and charge some fees of his own by helping other actors score weekend gigs, according to THR. Additionally, Amell has a stake in Heroes and Villains, which has six conventions planned over the next year. Heroes and Villains attracts talent ranging from other CW DC stars to Marvel TV stars to big names in film. Aquaman Jason Momoa himself has even signed on to appear.
Heroes and Villains isn't super big yet, but Stephen Amell could make out very well if the fan fest continues growing at its current rate. He may not even need to attend himself in the future to take home big bucks. Amell is clearly much more financially savvy than his Arrow character. Something tells me that he wouldn't sign away his stakes to a scheming competitor just because of a scheduling conflict. Maybe Amell needs to sit down with the Arrow writers for a chat about finances. He's clearly not just a pretty face (or set of abs).
Hopefully fans of the show will continue to get their access to Stephen Amell at conventions. There's clearly a big demand for him, and he regularly drops pretty good Arrow spoilers at events like Wizard World and Heroes and Villains Fan Fest. Only time will tell if they will continue to be willing to shell out hefty amounts of money for the sake of photos and autographs.
You can catch Stephen Amell back on The CW as Oliver Queen when Arrow Season 5 premieres on October 5 at 8 p.m. ET. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see when you can expect the other CW DC shows in the near future.
