Meltzer reports ESPN + likely the new home for WWE PPVs (Update Pg. 2)

[teamXtremist]

Originally Posted by xrodmuc316 I also think it has the potential to backfire badly. WWE's product has kind of hit rock bottom ratings wise, and have been fairly steady since. The Network subscribers make up about 75% of Raw's ratings (2 rating with 1.5 million subscribers). How many are going to be unwilling to pay an extra $50 just to keep watching PPVs? How many are going to stop watching the weekly shows if they are not going to have access to the PPVs that are the payoff for following Raw, Smackdown, etc.? WWE may earn more on a few individual PPVs, but certainly not all of them. Whatever gains they may get won't balance out the losses everywhere else.

This! I get wwe is losing money on wm's over the years but nobody is paying $50 bucks for wwe ppv's in 2020. Their product is at an alltime low in interest and quality. Wwe figured the network would take off and they could recoop the money but now the network has gone from 2 mil to 1.4 viewers. Unless them charging more money will result in a better product overall which i doubt ,then theres no point for any wwe fan to want or support this non sense.

[xrodmuc316]

Originally Posted by teamXtremist This! I get wwe is losing money on wm's over the years but nobody is paying $50 bucks for wwe ppv's in 2020. Their product is at an alltime low in interest and quality. Wwe figured the network would take off and they could recoop the money but now the network has gone from 2 mil to 1.4 viewers. Unless them charging more money will result in a better product overall which i doubt ,then theres no point for any wwe fan to want or support this non sense.

Exactly right. Just to simplify let's say 1.5 million paid subscribers at $10 a month vs $50 for a monthly PPV.

To make the same money they would need a buyrate of 300,000.

Mania, Rumble, and Summerslam get that historically.

Survivor Series has in the past, and could with a great card.

The other 8 though, before the Network those all were struggling to get even 200,000 buys. So that is 8 months WWE just pissed away 33% of their earnings.

Now unsimplifying it, WWE stated numerous times that they get a much bigger piece of the renevue, 85% of the Network over 50% of traditional PVP buys.

85% of $15 million (1.5 million subscribers) would be $12.75 million a month.
To get the same $12.75 million at $25 (half of the $50 for the ppv) they are looking at needing 510,000 buys.

If the 8 B show PPVs were actually to return to the 200,000 range, WWE would bank $5 million per show.

They would be losing $7.75 million 8 times, a total of $62 million for the year.

To offset that loss, the big 4 PPVs would each need to generate an extra $15.5 million above the $12.75 million, which at $25 (half of the $50 for the ppv) would mean an additional 620,000 buys on top of the break even 510,000 buys previously mentioned.

1,130,000 buys. WWE has done this twice, ever.

WrestleMania 23 (1,200,000 Buys)
WrestleMania 18 (1,217,000 Buys)

The only way WWE comes out ahead on this is by getting a guarantee from ESPN+ or whoever that just buys the PPV rights for a flat fee so high, say $25 million per, that ESPN would be taking the loss each month when they can't get people to buy the PPVs.

Math Bitches!

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by xrodmuc316 Exactly right. Just to simplify let's say 1.5 million paid subscribers at $10 a month vs $50 for a monthly PPV. To make the same money they would need a buyrate of 300,000. Mania, Rumble, and Summerslam get that historically. Survivor Series has in the past, and could with a great card. The other 8 though, before the Network those all were struggling to get even 200,000 buys. So that is 8 months WWE just pissed away 33% of their earnings. Now unsimplifying it, WWE stated numerous times that they get a much bigger piece of the renevue, 85% of the Network over 50% of traditional PVP buys. 85% of $15 million (1.5 million subscribers) would be $12.75 million a month. To get the same $12.75 million at $25 (half of the $50 for the ppv) they are looking at needing 510,000 buys. If the 8 B show PPVs were actually to return to the 200,000 range, WWE would bank $5 million per show. They would be losing $7.75 million 8 times, a total of $62 million for the year. To offset that loss, the big 4 PPVs would each need to generate an extra $15.5 million above the $12.75 million, which at $25 (half of the $50 for the ppv) would mean an additional 620,000 buys on top of the break even 510,000 buys previously mentioned. 1,130,000 buys. WWE has done this twice, ever. WrestleMania 23 (1,200,000 Buys) WrestleMania 18 (1,217,000 Buys) The only way WWE comes out ahead on this is by getting a guarantee from ESPN+ or whoever that just buys the PPV rights for a flat fee so high, say $25 million per, that ESPN would be taking the loss each month when they can't get people to buy the PPVs. Math Bitches!

Great post, thanks!