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Everyone knows that pro wrestling just isn’t what it used to be.
Whether we’re referring to the talent that WWE has, the type of programming it has or the quality of the product in general, it’s pretty clear that wrestling fans aren’t as happy with what we see today as we were 15 years ago.
That is often reflected in how well the WWE does as a business, with ratings going down, pay-per-view buys decreasing and so on and so forth.
Well, the WWE fans have spoken once again, and according to the company’s business figures for the first quarter of 2012, business isn’t exactly booming like it once did.
WWE’s new business figures as updated today indicate that business is down through the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous two years. The company, which will report its official Q1 results on May 3, reported the following:
* US live event attendance averaged 6,200 per show, which is down from 6,400 per show in the first quarter of 2011 and 7,300 per show in Q1 of 2010. The company ran four less shows when compared to last year.
* International live event attendance was 3,400 for six events, including three in Abu Dhabi and three in Central America. The Abu Dhabi shows did 6,000 for two of the three nights, indicating that the Central America shows did not do well to make the average what it was. International attendance in the first quarter of last year averaged 8,400.
* The “effective Home Video price” this year to date was $10 per unit shipped, which is down from $13 in 2011 and $14 in 2010. The lowest price before last quarter was $12 per unit in the third quarter of 2010.
* Total PPV buys averaged 311,000 for two events (Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber); WrestleMania was not included in the Q1 results, being just outside the date range. Last year’s first quarter average was 321,000 for the Rumble & Chamber.
* Online merchandise sales dropped 20 percent compared to last year, but were slightly up compared to 2010
* WWE’s online traffic shows that pageviews were about the same as last year, but unique visitors were down 11%.
* The company also updated DVD sales. The Rock’s Epic Journey has shipped 137,000, up from the 115,000 reported last month. Steve Austin’s DVD from November currently tops the nine-month chart with 143,000 units shipped.
This doesn’t mean that the WWE is in any sort of financial jeopardy. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
But it does, of course, show that the WWE is losing steam in several different areas.
Pay-per-view buys, DVD prices, WWE.com viewership, live-event attendance and merchandise sales are all down from 2011, and in most cases, have been going down over the course of the last couple of years.
While the decreases aren’t dramatic (for the most part), they are an indication of a big problem: Interest in the WWE is decreasing.
The company is still raking in millions of dollars, but it’s evident that the fans are slowly but surely losing interest in the WWE product and in multiple different areas.
You could really blame this on any number of things, but the natural thing for us fans to do will be to put the blame on the creative team for failing to come up with, well, creative storylines.
I’m just not sure what we can put the blame on, and to be honest, I think there are too many factors to even consider.
At the end of the day, though, the WWE has to find out exactly why it is driving fans away and then do whatever it can to make sure that those fans come back.
Whether we’re referring to the talent that WWE has, the type of programming it has or the quality of the product in general, it’s pretty clear that wrestling fans aren’t as happy with what we see today as we were 15 years ago.
That is often reflected in how well the WWE does as a business, with ratings going down, pay-per-view buys decreasing and so on and so forth.
Well, the WWE fans have spoken once again, and according to the company’s business figures for the first quarter of 2012, business isn’t exactly booming like it once did.
WWE’s new business figures as updated today indicate that business is down through the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous two years. The company, which will report its official Q1 results on May 3, reported the following:
* US live event attendance averaged 6,200 per show, which is down from 6,400 per show in the first quarter of 2011 and 7,300 per show in Q1 of 2010. The company ran four less shows when compared to last year.
* International live event attendance was 3,400 for six events, including three in Abu Dhabi and three in Central America. The Abu Dhabi shows did 6,000 for two of the three nights, indicating that the Central America shows did not do well to make the average what it was. International attendance in the first quarter of last year averaged 8,400.
* The “effective Home Video price” this year to date was $10 per unit shipped, which is down from $13 in 2011 and $14 in 2010. The lowest price before last quarter was $12 per unit in the third quarter of 2010.
* Total PPV buys averaged 311,000 for two events (Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber); WrestleMania was not included in the Q1 results, being just outside the date range. Last year’s first quarter average was 321,000 for the Rumble & Chamber.
* Online merchandise sales dropped 20 percent compared to last year, but were slightly up compared to 2010
* WWE’s online traffic shows that pageviews were about the same as last year, but unique visitors were down 11%.
* The company also updated DVD sales. The Rock’s Epic Journey has shipped 137,000, up from the 115,000 reported last month. Steve Austin’s DVD from November currently tops the nine-month chart with 143,000 units shipped.
This doesn’t mean that the WWE is in any sort of financial jeopardy. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
But it does, of course, show that the WWE is losing steam in several different areas.
Pay-per-view buys, DVD prices, WWE.com viewership, live-event attendance and merchandise sales are all down from 2011, and in most cases, have been going down over the course of the last couple of years.
While the decreases aren’t dramatic (for the most part), they are an indication of a big problem: Interest in the WWE is decreasing.
The company is still raking in millions of dollars, but it’s evident that the fans are slowly but surely losing interest in the WWE product and in multiple different areas.
You could really blame this on any number of things, but the natural thing for us fans to do will be to put the blame on the creative team for failing to come up with, well, creative storylines.
I’m just not sure what we can put the blame on, and to be honest, I think there are too many factors to even consider.
At the end of the day, though, the WWE has to find out exactly why it is driving fans away and then do whatever it can to make sure that those fans come back.
