WWE: Monday Night Raw 151 -- Redesign. Rebuild. REPLACED.

[M.C.G. 31]

These are WWE profits from 2005 and 2015 according to Meltzer. That is a stiff drop.

The problem imo is it's not an easy fix. The easiest fix is load up your RAW episodes with all the stars. The problem is you run out of fresh and interesting match ups and make no stars. It's a bandaid and will slowly just get worse.

The other route which is painful is the one their on now imo. You have the problem where your midcard will be featured more. If you don't have strong writing or a strong midcard it won't be good. This to me is the it has to get worse before it gets better. The only way to make these guys stars is television time. No one wants to see a lot of them because their not stars, but the only way to make them stars is give them time. Catch 22.

They're doing the correct thing. Slowly. Smackdown! has been great since the split. It's had solid writing, good segments, enjoyable two hours of television.

RAW still suffers from that 3rd hour. It's too long. It's too much content. And it exposes your roster badly. I know I preached more time for your midcard and this potentially gives you less. I'd bet if they cut that 3rd hour and condensed the show, it would improve greatly in show quality and ratings. Right now they're all about quantity over quality.

Nearly 50% drop in 10 years. Jeeeez.

WWE is really lucky they don't have any real competition.

 

[tp71]

Nearly 50% drop in 10 years. Jeeeez.

WWE is really lucky they don't have any real competition.

That's just a terrifying drop isn't it?

 

[Scandale du Jour]

That's just a terrifying drop isn't it?

Depends. Might be because they increased their expenses significantly.

If their expenses increase isn't significantly higher than the inflation rate and their revenues have regressed, then, yeah, it is very alarming.

You can't just look at profits to determine if a company is healthy. That's a mistake too many investors make. That is shortsighted. You have to dive much deeper into the various financial numbers to determine how a company is doing. But, yeah, 50% drop in 10 years is a huge number. I wonder how much debt they have.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Their expenses did increase when they began the network.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Their expenses did increase when they began the network.

I guess NXT/performance center is also a significant expense they didn't have back then. All the shows they produce for the Network too. They have a LOT of original content and the only significant revenue stream from those shows is Network subscribtions. I guess the Network will have to grow and grow and grow in order for them to see nice ROI.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I guess NXT/performance center is also a significant expense they didn't have back then. All the shows they produce for the Network too. They have a LOT of original content and the only significant revenue stream from those shows is Network subscribtions. I guess the Network will have to grow and grow and grow in order for them to see nice ROI.

I honestly don't think they will anytime soon. It's not looking too good... at least not domestically. International is a different story, but you have only 1.13m subscribers in the USA and everywhere else in the world it's only like... 500k or something like that. And instead of cutting out the middle man (cable providers) they had to go through them in some countries just to let the network be in those countries, so those providers get a cut of the revenue, too.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

I honestly don't think they will anytime soon. It's not looking too good... at least not domestically. International is a different story, but you have only 1.13m subscribers in the USA and everywhere else in the world it's only like... 500k or something like that.

That is freaking low. The Network is a great product (great value for what you pay), they just don't know how to market it efficiently. I wonder what their strategy is. Who's their targeted segment? How do they try to reach that segment? By trying to appeal to everyone, they get no one. I wonder if Vince still thinks "gate" is the most important metric. The Network is where the money is, I can't understand why they can't sell more of that great product.

Vince did great things, but he clearly doesn't know how to manage a billion dollar corporation. WWE is a terribly run company and I wouldn't put a dime of my money in it.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

That is freaking low. The Network is a great product (great value for what you pay), they just don't know how to market it efficiently. I wonder what their strategy is. Who's their targeted segment? How do they try to reach that segment? By trying to appeal to everyone, they get no one. I wonder if Vince still thinks "gate" is the most important metric. The Network is where the money is, I can't understand why they can't sell more of that great product.

Vince did great things, but he clearly doesn't know how to manage a billion dollar corporation. WWE is a terribly run company and I wouldn't put a dime of my money in it.

When Vince dies I might consider putting money in on the stock. The stock would absolutely tank, so I'd only wait until then, but it may never recover without Vince either. Investors would not look at the company the same being run by Stephanie and former pro wrestler, Triple H/Paul Levesque.

But I don't know... I may be a pessimist but I don't see much prosperity in terms of the network and its subscribers within the next few years. It just seems like the people who want it already have it and the others will just jump on for a free month when there's a show they want to watch. You can realistically sign up for only Wrestlemania and watch every show free because once you're unsubscribed for a certain amount of time, WWE pesters you with emails to come back and offers you another free month to do so. It's why they always do conference calls to update subscriber numbers the day after Wrestlemania -- they know that's when it's at its peak. Investors don't seem to bite which is why it doesn't move the stock at all on those occasions, though.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Their product caters to children, but children don't have credit cards.

Good luck getting little Jimmy to convince his mom to spend $120 a year on wrestling shows.

Nope, definitely shouldn't try appealing to 18-45 year old males with disposable income.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Yeah, that's the thing, they have killed the value of their own product with all the freebies. Why be a permanent subscriber when you can pay for a few months and then get freebies.

The Network is a tremendous product, they just totally botched their market entry. I mean, it such a good product that every wrestling fans, even those that don't tune in every week would get their money's worth. The library itself is worth the 10 bucks a month. I can't understand how they could fail that bad with such a great product. Not having a strong 2M subscriber base domestically is ****ing pathetic.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

WWE Business should be an HFWF podcast episode when it's up and running lol

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Their product caters to children, but children don't have credit cards.

Good luck getting little Jimmy to convince his mom to spend $120 a year on wrestling shows.

Nope, definitely shouldn't try appealing to 18-45 year old males with disposable income.

You can target both in different ways. That's what great marketers do.

The show can appeal to kids and 18-45 males if it is a good wrestling show. You still can have comedy and superheroes while having a compelling show. You just need good writing. Then, you have to design different messages for the different market segments you are targeting. It is so simple when you think about it.

If I were a marketing manager at WWE, I would order an in depth study of the market. Top level executives wouldn't listen and that is why the company sucks. It relies too much on Vince calling the shots. Many companies are unfortunately like that. Great products, terrible marketing management.

I will kill to be a fly on the wall during a WWE board meeting.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

WWE Business should be an HFWF podcast episode when it's up and running lol

With some time to prepare (good research would be needed), I am sure we could make a very good episode.

Keeping things simple to keep people interested, but fleshed out enough to be meaningful.

Not many people have focused on the business side of things. Heck, that would make the podcast quite unique. We would just have to make sure the right people listen to it

 

[M.C.G. 31]

You can target both in different ways. That's what great marketers do.

The show can appeal to kids and 18-45 males if it is a good wrestling show. You still can have comedy and superheroes while having a compelling show. You just need good writing. Then, you have to design different messages for the different market segments you are targeting. It is so simple when you think about it.

If I were a marketing manager at WWE, I would order an in depth study of the market. Top level executives wouldn't listen and that is why the company sucks. It relies too much on Vince calling the shots. Many companies are unfortunately like that. Great products, terrible marketing management.

I will kill to be a fly on the wall during a WWE board meeting.

If I were in marketing I wouldn't dare work for a known control freak like Vince McMahon lol.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

They will probably blame KO for it too even though they've ran Reigns out there in the main event for five straight weeks. lol

Reigns wasn't part of last week's main event. He wasn't even part of the show really. He showed up literally 20 seconds before they went off the air.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

My god, Jericho is still just oozing charisma. He's more entertaining to watch now than ever.

Off topic.. i wanna wrestle haha!

yet around WM the IWC was begging for him to go away, funny how things go

Face Jericho is *******. Heel Jericho is gold.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

If I were in marketing I wouldn't dare work for a known control freak like Vince McMahon lol.

Great ****ing point

I have taken on a look on Glassdoor and everyone seems to be hating upper management. Boys club they say. Ruthless and political they say. I guess this is what happens when you hire pro wrestlers to run your business

 

[These Are The Days]

Nearly 50% drop in 10 years. Jeeeez.

WWE is really lucky they don't have any real competition.

And its not a surprise. WWE has produced nothing BUT **** since then. It was all downhill after the dissolution of Evolution and the death of Eddie Guerrero. By 2008 they fed Raw all the main event talent and then relegated them to tag teams. While SD got guys like Kozlov.

 

[Engebretson]

You can target both in different ways. That's what great marketers do.

The show can appeal to kids and 18-45 males if it is a good wrestling show. You still can have comedy and superheroes while having a compelling show. You just need good writing. Then, you have to design different messages for the different market segments you are targeting. It is so simple when you think about it.

If I were a marketing manager at WWE, I would order an in depth study of the market. Top level executives wouldn't listen and that is why the company sucks. It relies too much on Vince calling the shots. Many companies are unfortunately like that. Great products, terrible marketing management.

I will kill to be a fly on the wall during a WWE board meeting.

"And I'd like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince McMahon's dead, but the fact is it's gonna get taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family!"

That quote is just so reusable when it pertains to WWE business decisions

 

[Hasek]

Kevin Owens is a great in ring performer and a solid promo. Really sense the fire when he talks. What I think is keeping him from being great is his gimmick. He's not a prizefighter.

They should make him a bar room brawler. Possibly have him chug a beer before a match.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

"And I'd like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince McMahon's dead, but the fact is it's gonna get taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family!"

That quote is just so reusable when it pertains to WWE business decisions

His doofus son-in-law at least seems to understand how to market a wrestling show to the right audience. However, he is the king of politics and his idioting wife thinks philantropy is the best way to market their product. So, yeah, on a corporate level, things should remain pretty bad after Vinny Mac passes away.

 

[Sheppy]

It's just how hilarious he made Reigns look in terms of wrestling ability. I think Reigns got off 30 punches/clotheslines and a Samoan drop, followed by tons of rest spots.

No trouble to tell who carried that match.

 

[Engebretson]

His doofus son-in-law at least seems to understand how to market a wrestling show to the right audience. However, he is the king of politics and his idioting wife thinks philantropy is the best way to market their product. So, yeah, on a corporate level, things should remain pretty bad after Vinny Mac passes away.

Yeah, I'd have more faith if Triple H was running it by himself, but unfortunately, he comes with Stephanie who seems too much like Vince. Don't get me wrong, Vince is a great businessman, but he let's his ego control his decisions far too often and I feel like Stephanie will carry on that tradition perfectly.

 

[DenisSamson3]

Nearly 50% drop in 10 years. Jeeeez.

WWE is really lucky they don't have any real competition.

And that does not take in to affect inflation. It has increased by 20% in the usa in that time period. 47 million was worth more before and the 24 million is worth less now.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Reigns wasn't part of last week's main event. He wasn't even part of the show really. He showed up literally 20 seconds before they went off the air.

He closed the show chasing the heel off. I don't care if he's promoted or in the match itself. When you're constantly closing the show in any capacity, you're part of the main event and a prominent figure. And when you saw that Reigns hadn't been on, what do you think most people figure? Reigns is bound to show up and lo and behold he did. He's a big reason why there is a drag on ratings. He's a proven negative hit on ratings.