Post by Rave on Nov 3, 2022 2:21:37 GMT -5
Tony Khan should save some time and just go ahead shoot himself in the foot. Jarrett's business model for TNA was so successful he was forced to sell the company in less than a year. then his business handling of Global Force Wrestling was so successful, he resorted to trying to get fans to sign up for Karatbars
When TNA started up in January 2002, Jeff Jarrett hired Jay Hassman to deal with contracts for the various pay-per-view companies around the country and making sure the company had ads running in various cable TV magazines. Any time Jarrett asked about buyrate estimates, Hassman said they would be in the 60,000 to 70,000 range. He also said the first ever TNA show had done 80,000 buys.
In a way, the Internet called bullshit on this claim: various people had complained on forums about how they couldn't watch the PPVs because their cable providers didn't carry them, and the ones who could watch the shows didn't see them mentioned in any cable listings or advertised on TV. Jarrett smelled a rat and called InDemand directly for the PPV numbers; InDemand told him the first show had done just under 20,000 buys. TNA sued Hassman and his company (which also provided PPV support for the WWE), which would mark the start of two specific issues: the birth of a conspiracy theory about WWE sabotaging TNA from the beginning and TNA's constant money problems (Jarrett had budgeted the company at 50,000 buys based on Hassman's estimates).
In a way, the Internet called bullshit on this claim: various people had complained on forums about how they couldn't watch the PPVs because their cable providers didn't carry them, and the ones who could watch the shows didn't see them mentioned in any cable listings or advertised on TV. Jarrett smelled a rat and called InDemand directly for the PPV numbers; InDemand told him the first show had done just under 20,000 buys. TNA sued Hassman and his company (which also provided PPV support for the WWE), which would mark the start of two specific issues: the birth of a conspiracy theory about WWE sabotaging TNA from the beginning and TNA's constant money problems (Jarrett had budgeted the company at 50,000 buys based on Hassman's estimates).
Hassman's pulled this shit several times since TNA, which has resulted in multiple lawsuits and prison sentences.
Second, he lost a major backer in that first year, which was what got Dixie Carter and Panda Energy in the door. More quoting from LOLTNA below.
Dixie Carter became involved in the company around this time, too. Jarrett received financial backing from a lot of different companies when TNA began, one of which was HealthSouth. In October 2002, HealthSouth lost tons of revenue due to fraud investigations and pulled out as a backer for TNA. Dixie, already working as a promoter for TNA, persuaded her father to become a financial backer for the company; as a result, Panda Energy purchased the 71% backing position for the company for $250,000. The company renamed itself as TNA Entertainment and Dixie became its President by the start of 2003.
The Global Force debacle, on the other hand, is entirely his own fault.