World Wrestling Entertainment

>Revenue increased 21% to $658.8 million, the highest in the Company’s history, including record levels of revenue from WWE’s Network, Television, Live event, Venue Merchandise, and WWE Shop businesses

What went wrong?

>women wrestling

They botched the acquisition of WCW and ECW hard. That should have catapulted them into a new super peak. Then Austin and Rock leaving.

UFC

>>1427223
Triple H and Steph getting more and more power

>>1427223
>TV rating
Not adjusted for network subscribers or streamers in general.

>>1427223
When Vince decided it wasnt worth putting any effort into booking his show.

>>1427223
It stopped being entertainment.

>>1427223

Natural decline after an unsustainable boom period

>>1427225
People don't watch it on tv anymore and that is all this graph is measuring.

>>1427223

>ratings started going down before even WCW was bought

Well, after WM 2000, I don't blame anyone if they all just wanted to stop watching.

>>1427252
This. If they'd been able to acquire the really, really big WCW names for the Invasion then it would have been incredible.

>>1427265
This also. Heyman did a great job with SmackDown and kept Raw on its toes but after he was removed from the booking, they started to coast on both shows. I think that's when it started to decline in quality.

>>1427350
Austin leaving is why I guess

>>1427370
No Austin was done by 2002. He was getting some boos against Scott Hall. Rock took over by 2000

>>1427381
I mean Austin left late 99 to get neck surgery

>>1427223
Nerdy flippyshit marks grew up and became wrestlers

>>1427393
2000 was their most profitable year

>>1427223
No one watches TV anymore. They are making the most amount of fucking bank they have ever done, and the company isn't going anywhere but expanding.

>>1427400
yeah but ratings started to slide

>>1427412
Near the end when Austin was back

http://www.gerweck.net/tv-ratings/2000-ratings/

Triple H
>wrestlemania 2000

>>1427400
Ratings and profits are not the same. Now they have the network and other revenue streams. They make $10 per month off of millions of people a month.

>>1427432
What does that have to do with Stone Cold?

Point was with Austin gone most of the year it was their most successful year up to that point

>>1427436
2015-2016 has been their most profitable year. In business you measure success by profits.

>>1427502
.....what does that have to do with Stone Cold?

Argument was people turned off when Austin had neck surgery

>>1427400
yeah they went public, nothing to do with the popularity of the product

>>1427223
>MMA is what pro wrestling was trying to fake.
>No competition/failure to build new talent/resting on their laurels
>Chris Beniot
>People are watching less television

>>1427225
>>1427502
>revenue = profits

begging you to read page fucking 1 of an ECON textbook

>>1429439

I've taken 3 economics courses you sad fuck. Increased revenue means that profits are up. Do you actually think it costed them substantially more to produce the same product they have produced for 20 years? Is WWE some tiny start up suffering from uncontrolled growth during an expansion process? You're autism is painful to witness.

>>1429547
>he thinks digital distribution is cheap

Lol

Wrestling got boring

>>1429550
It's not cheap but setting up the network is a one time cost. Do you think they have to build a new network every fucken day or something? Any expansion will be controlled growth due to the fact the WWE has created a new and more profitable revenue stream to replace PPV. They won't ever come out of pocket for anything because it is all out of the business equity.

>>1429547
>I've taken 3 economics courses

You obviously didn't pass.

>>1429558
So profitable that they've been slashing expenses across the company since their Network launched?

>>1429558
Do you really think there's no maintenance and operating costs. In fact they probably cost more than the fucking setup costs

>>1429579
>has no knowledge of economics
>attempts to insult someone who does

Are you struggling that much to find the words to say that they are reducing their overhead? Do you actually think it is abnormal for a business to reduce unnecessary expenses? This isn't TNA we are talking about retard. This is a multi-billion dollar company that is publicly traded.

>>1429598
>This is a multi-billion dollar company that is publicly traded.

-t. JBL

>>1429593

The autism is strong is strong with this one.

>>1427502
>In business you measure success by profits.
No, in business you measure the amount of tax you are liable to pay by profits. That is why many large companies employ special accountants to minimise their profits.

Success in business is achieving your own, planned objectives. If your goal is maximised profits, then you have succeeded. That is not the goal for every business, all of the time. Today, WWE is investing in online revenue streams; expansion into under-saturated markets (female, European, Indian, CHINESE fanbase), as well as large volume merchandising (as ever) and their own talent development programmes.

Also, the people who have said this graph mainly shows the decline of television consumption are basically right.

>>1429608
>thinks corporations pay taxes

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

>>1429608
>taxes mattering in a business with no depreciable assets

lol

>>1429608
>That is why many large companies employ special accountants to minimise their profits.

Companies pay people to make sure they are making as little money as possible? KEK. You're a retard. Just stop already.

>>1427223
Ratings don't matter anymore everyone just subs to the network

>>1429613
Are you the guy that took 3 economics courses? You didn't pass, did you.

>>1429617
Baby stop trying to act smart. It's not working. You're embarrassing Daddy.

>>1429609
Thanks for the contribution, Timmy Memetime.

>>1429611
if minimising tax exposure was not one of the top day-to-day priorities of CFO's in every single major company, then being an accountant would not be such a lucrative profession.

A company which is planning ten year growth, with breakout around year six, will be looking for ways to retain their capital for five years straight. That way, they have it on hand in year six to launch their major expansion drive.

Hiding vast sums of cash over one year is hard enough. Minimising tax exposure for multiple consecutive years is a art.

NOT necessarily saying WWE is doing that now. But if they are planning a major drive into the Chinese market, as it seems, then they are going to have to sink so much cash into their marketing budget to reach a critical mass of awareness in such an enormous marketplace.

>>1429608
>this graph mainly shows the decline of television consumption are basically right.

But shows like Walking Dead + Game of Thrones are raking in viewers, while live sport broadcasts have been largely unaffected.

Maybe the WWE is just shit?

>>1429600
He has a point, not substantially expensive but they cut into network revenue surely

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The theory i heard is that the company went public so now vince hast to answer to stockholders, when before he could show ass and titties all he wanted because it was a private company, and while he made more money, the product became stale family friendly boring shit.
Coupled with the fact that wwe has a virtual monopoly on wrestling in america and maybe the world has created this nightmare world where wrestling is ruled over vincent k McMahon forever and ever.

Basically the only way to force wwe to be good is to give it competetion.

WCW being its greatest rival drove it to unprecedented heights of popularity.
ECW forced them to become edgier.
ROH forced them to take indie wrestling seriously.
TNA crashed and burn and made us all laugh

>>1429613
>Companies pay people to make sure they are making as little money as possible? KEK.

That is not what was said in that post, if you look at the words and understand each of their meanings.

"Profitability" is an amorphous concept. It is not turnover - cost, when you are publicly traded, or when you have shareholder management. Do you pay salaries, or dividends? Do you hive off training facilities as a tax deductible, non-profit, independent charitable organisation, or do you train people under employee contracts, etc etc. There are many ways to affect the "leftover turnover" and its taxable status.

>>1429620
fucking idiot college dropout

>>1429626
You mean it's cutting into that revenue stream that was created by the network? That is called operations cost. They aren't going out of pocket for that. Subscribers cover the cost.

>>1429637
Baby go take a shower. It's almost time for the morning rush at McDonald's. They said you can't be late again or they're firing you.

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>>1429642
>this actual fucking autism

stop rping, beato

>>1429624
Those are good examples of shows that have redefined tv in a new way. They are almost like weekly films. Hour long, massive production costs and great quality shows. They are bringing together tv / cinema / streaming experiences. In terms of quality and variety, this is THE golden age of TV. But it doesn't change that regular, individual shows now generally have lower ratings than 20 years ago.

Also, sports is another one changing over time - as I understand it, NBA is falling; NFL is expanding. NFL is aggressively chasing overseas markets, just like WWE has now started to seriously do. NBA is not doing that, (a reversal from the 90s, where basketball was pushed as a supercool American thing in the UK, but now it is never seen or mentioned and there is hardly any merchandising).

So yeah, WWE is among the former group right now, but is clearly trying to join the second group. It is currently like an old style reality tv / soap opera show. Now it wants to become a streaming and sports event with international crowds.

Anybody who thinks that WWE is doing JUST fine business-wise should remember that they gave away their biggest show of the year (for free) in an attempt to spike and keep Network subs.

(It didn't work.)

EVERYTHING'S FINE

Oh, and even though ratings are in the toilet wwe is still profitable, so no one gives a fuck except smarks on the internet reeeeing about a 0.0.0.0..000..0.0.1 dip in the ratings.

Seriously, do you think wwe is even capable of getting that big again?
All the teenage testosterone fueled boys watch UFC now.
Why do you think wwe targets women now, divas revolution, total divas reality show, making tumblr heartthrob dean the champ.

When vince dies he will go down as the greatest wrestling promoter of all time, he took some shit rednecks did in their backyards and made it into a global phenomenon.

When normies think of wrestling they think of wwe.
Its like nintendo or coca cola.

>>1429662
>Its like nintendo or coca cola.
or your mum

>>1429651
NBA is not falling, this playoffs ratings are better than ever and one of the highest ever. The fucking WCF broke records.

>>1429662
>When vince dies he will go down as the greatest wrestling promoter of all time,

You know he doesn't even call himself a wrestling promoter right?

...actually I'm totally cool with that being his legacy.

>he took some shit rednecks did in their backyards and made it into a global phenomenon.

THIS IS WHAT UNDERAGE /WWE/ MARKS ACTUALLY BELIEVE

>>1429666
Wrestling was a southern american thing, all the greatest wrestlers came from the south, then vince killed all the territories, dominated television, and expanded the audience to the world.
The amount of Indians and middle easterners that like wwe on their social media pages is huge

>>1429665
That's just from what I know of the American sports in the UK. I found some article on google saying that last year's playoffs had repeated falls in viewing figures. But like I say - it has basically zero prominence over here these days.

>>1429665
NBA has no pull outside of america except in china, and china is filled with commies who wont let the nba make money.

Peopel make fun of baseball but its popular in parts of south america, the islands, and east asia, mostly japan, but taiwan and south korea get into it too.
The NFL is the one thats really fucked when it comes to being popular outside of america though.

>>1429683
That's because there's over a fucking billion of them.

Also that's a recent phenomenon.

CMLL has been in business for over a century.

Maybe people don't give a shit anymore ?
You know back then it was pretty much a new concept and it was hip.

These day wrestling is a niche business ( at least where i'm from ) for a few kids and there is so much more entertaining things to do that did not exist back then.

I mean any kid these day just boots up internet and watches whatever he wants.

>>1429742
>pro wrestling "was pretty much a new concept" in THE FUCKING 90s

This is the most 18+ post in /asp/ history.

>>1429742
You're right. Alot of people who figured it's predetermined stopped watching.
Those who liked it for being male soap opera smarkiness and theater stayed on.

Today casuals keep asking me, why the heck you watch it when it's fake?

>>1429879
>Alot of people who figured it's predetermined stopped watching.

There's a fucking Woody Woodpecker short from the FIFTIES that does the "You know it's fake, right?" bit.

>>1429616
Ratings matter to USA Network. Thats why SmackDown is going live, to increase the ratings.

Without competition, it's returning to its base-line.

>>1429879
It's not that people suddenly found out it's fake, people have always known.
It's because the shows are so corny and pre-packaged that people can't pretend that it's real anymore.

>>1429636
That's not what he said. He didn't anything about shielding profits from taxes. He said companies pay someone to keep profits low as possible. kek

>>1429657
They doubled their subscriptions by giving away the most profitable WM in history.

>>1429879
>Thinks wrestling is real

Nigga nothing you see on tv is real. Wrestling is just live theater with stunts.

>>1429742
>thinks professional wrestling is a new concept. LOLOLOLOLOLOL

>>1429630
Vince still owns 87% of that publicly traded company...

>>1427223
Austin's heel turn

>>1427223

No viable competition. They don't have to top anyone anymore.

>>1427223
Manlets
Big guys aren't draws outside of the WWE bubble, little to no mainstream appeal (Cena and Reigns)
Guys like Ambrose and Rollins have little appeal outside of the WWE bubble either.
Lazy booking, barely booking the main event right let alone the mid card.
Three hour RAW's when they can't even make a good two hour RAW these days.
Vince is senile
Triple H and Steph are cunts