Is ROH ready to "go national?"

[Sephiroth]

Discussing this in the TNA forum made me consider this idea. I would actually argue that ROH is even more ready for a national television time slot than TNA was when they landed their deals with Fox Sports or Spike. Unlike TNA, ROH already is well established on the road both in North America and abroad, they have created a unique identity for themselves separate from WWE-something TNA is regularly said to have failed to do, and ROH has a small but very loyal fanbase that could be a great starting point for growth.
But in some other ways, ROH may not be ready for that kind of a leap. They have actually not made a huge effort to cross promote and bring in the kind of advertisement and sponsor that would increase their public presence (and revenue), which might make them a hard sell to a broader audience. They tend to rely more heavily on un-established talent, which makes it harder for them to increase their audience. And, above all else, they already have a deal in place with an organization of localized television networks that gives them plenty of TV coverage-but on a more limited basis than a slot on a network like Spike would offer. And very likely a national network would expect to see production values on par with WWE's, which I am not sure ROH has the resources to put out right now.
Thoughts?

[Deleted]

I don't think so. ECW got a national TV deal when wrestling was on fire, but I don't think there's nearly enough demand for a third true national wrestling promotion today. TNA may have been less ready when they first got their TV deal, but they filled a void.

Also they have "deals" with local networks because ROH's parent company also owns those networks. That would be another hurdle to get on a major cable network.

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

They're owned by a company that puts them on channels that they personally own. Sinclair isn't just gonna let them go on Spike or wherever unless that company wants to buy ROH and I don't see that happening any time soon.

[1 Free Moon-Down with Burger]

I'll just say no in lieu of a laughing no.

[Dave the Dave]

No. I personally think this A.)Because I think they've dipped in quality in wrestling and production value and B.) I just don't think it will really do anything but waste their money at this point.

[Kevin Hamilton]

In the current climate of wrestling not exactly being hot to any sorta audience beyond hardcore fans, I don't think any company should.

[kingoftheindies]

Sept 26, 2013 8:47:49 GMT -5 Dave the Dave said:

No. I personally think this A.)Because I think they've dipped in quality in wrestling and production value and B.) I just don't think it will really do anything but waste their money at this point.

+1

While I think certain things with ROH have improved since Delirious has gotten the book, there are a lot of things as well that IMO have not clicked even with them having a lot of money behind them.

[________ has left the building]

Going national would guarantee ROH goes out of business in a year.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

At this point, we're more likely to see RoH wound up and it's video library sold than we are to see it going national. Being owned by Sinclair is a blessing and a curse, they're not paying for TV time, but they can't get a better tv deal on a true national broadcaster and since booth wrestling and conventional Television itself are on the decline, there may come a point where Sinclair pulls the plug on unnecessary expenditure like original programming like RoH. The Sinclair deal saved them, but the only way they can expand now is if wrestling suddenly becomes hot once more and Sinclair decides to throw money at them, but the odds of that are low.

[Cry Me a Wiggle]

Why does every company have to go national? Why does every company have to eventually compete with WWE? We got spoiled during the '90s boom. WCW was #1 and ECW seemed like it could keep growing until it was a national powerhouse. As we've seen with TNA and ROH, that scenario isn't going to repeat itself anytime soon. I'd rather these companies hunker down and thrive under their budget rather than trying to expand too fast and going out of business.

[Chairman of the Board]

techinically aren't they on TV all over the nation already??

[Malcolm]

Sept 26, 2013 15:12:12 GMT -5 Chairman of the Board said:

techinically aren't they on TV all over the nation already??

Sinclair isn't available to everyone, but technically speaking, yes.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Sept 26, 2013 15:12:12 GMT -5 Chairman of the Board said:

techinically aren't they on TV all over the nation already??

Last time I checked their weekly show didn't air on any channel in Mississippi. I think there is a handful of states they don't air in.

[Djm Doesn't Find You Funny]

I am fully convinced that there will never be another "national" wrestling promotion.

Vince McOrwell has done his job.

[Talent Name]

Sept 26, 2013 15:30:09 GMT -5 Ultimo Gallos said:

Sept 26, 2013 15:12:12 GMT -5 Chairman of the Board said:

techinically aren't they on TV all over the nation already??

Last time I checked their weekly show didn't air on any channel in Mississippi. I think there is a handful of states they don't air in.

They are selective in what stations air like if I wanted to watch it in NY I would have to be upstate to watch it, the other big problem I have with ROH going national is that they really don't have the big names to market to casual fans which is now a very large percentage of viewers. I do love ROH and a lot of the wrestlers and their gimmicks but try explaining or marketing someone like Jay Lethal or Davey Richards to a casual fan, the only reason I pick those two they have been in and out of ROH for a long time.

[jimmyjames]

What channel would carry them? TNA got lucky with Fox Sports and Spike, but I can't see any other major channel carrying them.

[Deleted]

Observations on the topic:

- Ring of Honor has been around for 12 years already and has run live events in over 20 different states, as well as Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

- Within the past five years, Ring of Honor has had two television deals (HDNet and on the Sinclair affiliate stations). Though neither put them in every home across the country, they both made the product more readily available to wrestling fans than at any period in their existence.

- Ring of Honor briefly had a taped pay-per-view deal where they would air two hour long shows every few months. It was eventually dropped due to the shows not generating enough revenue to make them worthwhile.

- They ran more live events per year, and averaged larger live event attendances during the years before they were on television. Though they set their largest single live event record during the television era, they are still drawing in the 300 range for some of the smaller shows currently.

- The original post in this thread mentioned how they "rely on un-established talent which makes it harder for them to increase their audience." The alternative is to spend money on big names (the TNA approach). Staying in business is likely the priority, thus they maintain a roster of talent which they can actually afford.

- As has already been pointed out in some of the replies, they are owned by a television company which puts the show on their own stations. Switching to a national cable channel (similar to something like Spike) would require that Sinclair no longer own the promotion. They bought the promotion in order to have programming which they can produce themselves, for their stations.

- Professional wrestling is not "hot" right now as an entertainment product. There is no demand for additional wrestling television shows by the cable networks. TNA, even with some of the biggest recognizable names in wrestling (Hogan, Flair, Sting, Angle, Foley, etc.) still did the same ratings with those wrestlers on their television show as they were doing without any of them. Even with the national exposure of being on Spike TV, they still occasionally draw around 300 people to house shows.

I guess from all of those observations, my answer is: ROH is what it is, and nothing more. They are essentially a small promotion which happens to be owned by a television company, and have the ability to tour throughout roughly half of the country based on the following which they have. They already are "national," but they are a national promotion that draws 1,500-2,000 people a handful of times per year, and average about 400 for their other shows. It is what it is.

A final observation is this. Since TNA produces weekly television for Spike TV, which does the same rating every week regardless of what's on the show, I firmly believe that any number of other small companies (the size of ROH or smaller) would be able to do a similar rating, or better, if they were put on a major cable network tomorrow. In that respect, they are as "ready to go national" as Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, PRIME Wrestling, etc., since they already do what is necessary to produce a wrestling television product. Flip a switch, and they're "national promotions" if a network executive decides to air their shows.

[The Baltimore Staircase]

Stay as is, link up with WWE and oversee steady growth from there. If nothing else you could have NXT/developmental talent work with wrestlers who don't just work WWE style.

I really thought back in 2011 that the WWE and ROH were going to do a crossover when Punk walked out. That could have been fun.

[Deleted]

How about Sinclair worry about getting/buying a station in major markets first? I live in the Chicago metro area and they don't air anywhere - one of their core cities gets shut out. (Yet, they air in Quincy - a little area that has about 5 channels if you don't have cable.)

ECW just didn't ride a cult following into national television. We got the PPVs, but Hardcore TV didn't start up in Chicago until late-1998. And even then, it was on at like 2am.