Someone explain the numbers to me

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Okay so according to the WWE they got about 21.41 per buy on PPV on average. They averaged 303k a show in 2013. So that means at 700k they should be making around as much as they made in the old PPV model unless the cost per subscriber per month is alot higher then I think it is. So why is the sky falling?

[Giul T.]

As far as I have seen it the problem's more "Vince talking his network and TV deal up way beyond what it was going to be" than "No money coming in" but I wasn't really good at accounting.

[xCompackx]

They're probably not actually seeing as much of that profit as you'd think. When you add up WWE Network costs to operate (servers, advertising, etc.), plus the PPV providers that still take from the people who still buy PPVs normally, it can't be a huge moneymaker like WWE wants it to be.

[bluemeii]

A few things cut into that 9.99 (patent pending).

Overhead and startup costs. They are paying someone else (MLB) to host and broadcast the network in the US. I imagine it's probably in the realm of 2 dollars or more per subscriber. Maybe as high as 3 but I'm not sure just taking a decent guess at that. It could just be a flat fee to them per month also, but I'm kinda doubting that one. Increased bandwith costs due to more subscribers, MLB would need to offset that increased cost.

Factor in the costs to produce NXT, Main Event, Superstars every week. I know there are international deals for those shows, but who knows if it is enough to cover everything involved in the production of them. I would guess at best right now it's break even on them, but that's doubtful.

There's alot more in the costs section of the old P&L statement (profit and loss for those that didn't know that) that could be gone into when it comes to the Network part of it, but yeah, it makes sense when you think of everything that might cost money when it comes to network distribution and it being a major loss for the companies bottom line at this time.

Funny thought but it just dawned on me when I typed this. I wonder if they have to pay NBC Universal (E Network) for the rights to broadcast Total Divas on the network? Probably not but man that would be a kick in the ass.

edit: Holy shit they put out their entire P&L for the world to see. Didn't know this time to look it over.

edit: Wow...now I know why they are so bullish on the network. PPV revenue for the 1/2 year down 14.5 million dollars and "network" (they lump ppv and network together) revenue is still up over 7.5 million. They get costs under control that will be a moneymaker for them.

[Stauf Crust]

The only number that matters now is 9.99.

That'... all... that matters...