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So AEW has a TV deal (aka Rippa stupidly starts another AEW thread)


nofuture

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1 hour ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

If what folks are saying about the TV deal is true, then without rights fees, PPV and live events are going to be their bread and butter for a really long time, and I'm just really worried no one is gonna want to fork over $50 for AEW, when the more proven WWF is $10. For better or worse, the Network has changed peoples' expectations. I couldn't tell you the last WWE TV I watched but I still try to catch every PPV because I'm already paying for it, so they already got me. Even if the stuffing instead of potatoes is fucking abysmal right now, 

I wouldn't like paying $50 for every PPV, but if that's what I need to do to support something I want to succeed in the worst way, then so be it. I'm the opposite when it comes to the WWE network. For $10 a month, I feel like I can miss a PPV. I'm not planning to watch MITB because the TV has been abysmal, but I'm going to Sunday's NXT house show. It's really bad when WWE has a roster full of people I like and I can't be bothered. I still haven't watched any of WM, and probably won't. The only thing I watched from Raw and SD was Firefly Funhouse, and I watched it on youtube. The only things keeping me watching the network is NXT and NXT UK.

Edited by Nice Guy Eddie
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I've yet to see a straight answer on the financials of the TV deal. Alvarez says they are making money off the deal. Others are suggesting there's an ad revenue split. Others are making it sound like TNT will cover the production fees ($500,000 a week or so was the number that got thrown out there).

But I mean, when you really look at it, it doesn't really make sense for TNT to be shelling out the money to put AEW on the air. AEW is still an unproven brand, and they haven't even had one official show yet. 

Edited by TheVileOne
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4 hours ago, alstein said:

$50 for a PPV just isn't going to work when you've got $9-10 a month for NJPW World and WWE.  I got a feeling the good ship reddit is going to do excellent business though.

For AEW to succeed, they're going to have to get an AEW network and fast.  I don't know how they're going to do this though.

 

 

I could see them striking a deal with Excalibur, and Highspots to get access to the PWG footage to add content since the majority of the roster built their career there. They have quite obviously have been partnering up with small Indie promotions across the US. So something could come from that. But yeah, you need a year or two to build this ship up. That’s one inside track that WWE has, that AEW doesn’t. Maybe an exclusive show to the network that features exclusive promos, and important turning points in the on-screen angles. There is also a ton of old school footage still out there to be picked if they wanted it. But it’s their  prerogative, and how much they want to pony up for Memphis, or old NWA territory footage. 

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
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We're spoiled and conditioned to expect events for a small amount of money now, in addition to a library of content for said price. For all the talk about people wanting AEW to be different, it sure seems like the majority want them to follow in WWE's footsteps and have their own network (and every other indie promotion in existence).

@LoneWolf&Subs I'm sure Super Dragon will have opinions on letting Highspots and Excalibur lease out PWG content to a theoretical AEW streaming service. And I'm sure WarnerMedia would love it if AEW just created their own content provider, rendering their deal with Bleacher Report Live completely useless.

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That conditioning is called capitalism.   We expect a certain value for our money.   If AEW can't compete because they can't make enough money to cover their costs, they won't succeed.  They have to make it worth our money ,but they also have to get enough money.  It's tough.

 

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Thing is @Casey that’s the main model past cable. Not just for wrestling, but also for all of entertainment. And streaming is the future battle ground for this wrestling war. Maybe PWG is a pie in the sky, but you know dang well they’ll try.  Along with grabbing footage from a ton of indie promotions. Which right there is the 2nd wave of content that will appeal to this new generation wrestling fandom.

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
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I guess I'm just gonna have to agree to disagree here, because I don't agree with any of that.

They have a streaming platform. It's called Bleacher Report Live. Not everyone and everything needs an OTT app, and there are tons of sources that say it's going to lead to a collapse in that eventually too, just like traditional TV before it. People cut their cords to get away from cable bills, and got things like Netflix and Hulu, and now the content providers on those apps are making their own apps to combat the original apps because they want a bigger piece of the pie. An adjustment in the price for their shows on BRL would do wonders, but there's absolutely no need for an AEW Network.

And, also, no, I don't know that AEW will try and do whatever you're thinking about with PWG and other indies. Just because WWE has relationships with various indies like Progress and Evolve to maybe provide future original wrestling programming and host their libraries, doesn't mean AEW would do the same for these much, much smaller promotions. We're getting way ahead of ourselves with all of this anyway - it took WWE years and years to even get to the point where the Network was a possibility. All of these other promotions with streaming apps didn't even start it until they had a decent little library of their own shows and content to offer to subscribers.

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You’re right they can’t rush it. Even with the money, they have to drive cautiously.  They might do well with these PPV’s on B/R, and that might give them leverage when they can strike up a multi- year deal to provide content either for B/R, or a higher bidder down the line. My optimism levels have gone up.

 Is this the only PPV they’ll have before the show?  

Edited by LoneWolf&Subs
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5 hours ago, LoneWolf&Subs said:

 Is this the only PPV they’ll have before the show?  

It hasn’t been officially announced, but they’re supposed to be doing all in 2 (or whatever they decide to call it) Labor Day weekend back at the sears center. I assume that will be a ppv and that would likely become their wrestlemania. 

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12 hours ago, alstein said:

$50 for a PPV just isn't going to work when you've got $9-10 a month for NJPW World and WWE.  I got a feeling the good ship reddit is going to do excellent business though.

For AEW to succeed, they're going to have to get an AEW network and fast.  I don't know how they're going to do this though.

 

 

Assuming the revenue splits are the same/similar at each price point, they would need a much bigger audience at $10 to make the same amount of money as they will at $50. If they even get just 20% of the audience at $50 as they would at $10, they come out ahead.

Now I have no idea if the revenue splits are the same or not, but they clearly have a dedicated audience who will show up, at least in the beginning.

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41 minutes ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

Exactly. There hasn't even been a single AEW show yet. We don't have any reason to believe it's worth the lost change in Vince's couch cushions. 

? 

Touché.

It was worth enough to WWE to offer the Elite big bucks to prevent AEW from happening. 

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27 minutes ago, The Unholy Dragon said:

RE: DoN's price point.

 

All In was $40 with it going up free on NJPW World next day and word was the PPV numbers were good.  A hot product can command more $$$ than a lukewarm one, especially since it's not a monthly deal (yet).

 

At the time Dave reported they did about 20,000 buys for All In. JR said they made around $1m in PPV from the event - so at $40 each - those numbers sound roughly similar. 

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Quote
  • "The day of the week is not official, although it will likely be either Tuesday or Wednesday night."
  • "If it does go on Tuesday, it would likely mean, like was the case with wrestling in the WCW era, that during the NBA season it would likely be cut down. It would air, perhaps on one hour form some weeks, and probably just prior to the NBA game of the night."
  • "The show’s name hasn’t been decided on."
  • "AEW is currently negotiating television deals in the U.K., obviously with ITV 4, and in Canada, but the deals can’t be finalized until the day of the week is decided. Australia and Mexico are targets as well, but the U.S., U.K. and Canada are expected to be the key markets when the show launches."
  • "The deal also includes content on B/R Live, including PPV shows. The PPV content will be done more like UFC, where it will be a full price PPV at $49.95, and not undercutting the PPV providers’ price. That may have been something that they had little choice on, because in cutting recent deals with inDemand, Dish and DirecTV, the contract stipulations likely called for an inability to undercut the price on streaming. WWE was able to do that by basically just doing it, and the PPV providers had to either agree to continue airing the shows or not. But WWE had leverage due to its long history which AEW wouldn’t have had."
  • "AEW to TNT had been talked about by AEW President Tony Khan and Kevin Reilly, the President of TNT and TBS, for nearly one year, even predating All In. But the first actual serious negotiations started in mid-November. Khan had promised a strong roster in those negotiations and was able to sign every key person he had promised."
  • "There were also negotiations with Showtime, although TNT was always the favorite to end up as the destination point. Showtime would have likely been a deal for major shows, perhaps longer than two hours, like in the Strikeforce days, but not weekly."
  • "The key is that WarnerMedia will be paying for production, the value of which is unknown. "
  • "There is also an ad revenue split with a downside guarantee. So the final value of the deal will be directly related to ad rates and attractiveness of the product, as well as in the long run, the ratings. This behooves AEW to do an advertiser friendly show. "
  • "TNT is available in slightly more homes, just under 90 million, than USA, which is in just under 89 million homes. USA only beats TNT in ratings due to Raw and Smackdown."
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3 hours ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I was trying to think of alternative show names and Googled "types of explosive devices."

I'm on a list now, right? 

Wednesday Night Sticky Grenade 

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