WWE 4Q2019 & FY2019 Earnings Call (2/6/2020) - Discussion Thread

They don’t care about network.

He said they would sell major PPVs to something like ESPN+. Then, they other crap they would on network.

The biggest draw for network is NXT Takeover. Without that I would be gone in a heartbeat. I could care less about main roster

That didn’t even used to be a draw, until NXT went live the Takeovers were shown on Hulu as long as you did not care about live viewing.

Also I think a lot of Main roster fans don’t even watch Takeovers or any NXT, but still would get the network for the PPVs

Moving back to a PPV model would be interesting but fans are less engaged than ever and you told them for years they can get PPVs for $9.99. How do you ask them to spend more and keep engagement from plummeting further? You are also dealing with a known pool of potential buyers (1.42mil) which isn’t much more than what the top end Mania’s did before the Network.

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I know I just mean for me it would make no difference if they moved off main PPVs. I only care about Takeover. I suscribe e and cancel depending on timing of the shows

Vince doesn’t care if network dies he said. Anything is on the table

I think it will be tiered.

Tier 1 will be 20 bucks a month and include all PPVs

Tier 2 will be 10 and include everything but the big 4 PPVs that you can add on if you want

Well that’s the big problem with their shitty booking - they’ve made so many PPVs feel like just something that has to be there and not a special show. Look at things like TLC, Hell in a Cell, etc - basically every B show PPV is nothing special.

Putting Mania on another network would be an interesting experiment.

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That is not very reassuring if that is the case. I think the Network is their future. TV is a dying medium. I guess they could bid out to other streaming providers I guess.

It seems pretty evident to me that this could very likely be the first step towards killing the network. Gut the live stuff, PPVS, and then when a large number of people unsubscribe, kill it entirely citing lack of interest

That is honestly more to do with them booking “Free” PPVs as if the buy rate mattered. IF they did all the B shows as Brand specific because buys don’t matter, they would have longer builds and better quality overall with more spot light. Then do the big 4 shows as cross brand huge events. The problem is even those big events have been diminished in value because they have been “free” /

I think he knows streaming is the future. He means he doesn’t care about the actual WWE network.

He may just sell the whole thing thing to ESPN , or 4 PPVs to ESPN or tiers or whatever. He just basically said everything is on the table and they aren’t married to keeping their own network

This is incredible because the Network was always touted, even by industry experts, as way ahead of the curve from an OTT standpoint. I could see it being bundled with a Disney+ or FoxSports package way before they gut it completely. and the video catalog is worth something, they can’t just sit on that and not monetize it.

This will basically totally fuck over Canadians too.

Network here is already tied to a cable package… Any service they sell it to outside of Amazon… maybe… doesn’t exist in Canada.

They’ll probably sell it to Bell or Rogers and we’ll get stuck paying out the ass for PPVs… Well I won’t pay for them but you know.

At this point you have to call the Network a bit of a flop. The whole roll out was too fast and the price point was too low and to me it’s devalued big shows and PPVs for WWE.

People want more than just one basic product from streaming - look at ESPN and Disney Plus. But because Vince is obsessed with his one vision of wrestling and that it cant look any different, the number of subs has become stagnant.

I dont see people wanting to pay more for WWE big shows anymore.

Wrestling is such a niche market that other than folks like me (I’ve watched more archived stuff than live “PPVs” last year) I can’t see just an archive being a big enough interest to keep it running,

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I live in Canada and don’t do this. Just make your own account and watch it via your streaming box

Oh I know that’s what i do too… but if the PPVs leave the Network in the US but say stay as part of the Can one because we don’t get ESPN + or Peacock… We’d be pretty fucked

What are they gonna do sell the PPVs to Crave lol

I think it’s been hard for the brand specific PPVs to sell tickets.

I think FITE like they do for AEW or just via robbers/bell PPV like they do for UFC?

I think they is wrong. No one cares about the archive that much. Historically all views are current PPVs and NXT mainly

I mean Raw and SD sell tickets to some extent. SO if you are promising a card of title matches that have been built up, and gimmick matches, culmination of some feuds, I’d have to think they would outsell the individual TV shows. Not as much as co-branded shows, but I would think that would not matter a ton. If they are concerned with ticket revenue and getting one big show every month there isn’t much of a solution to their issue.