|
|
Post by polarbearpete on Dec 5, 2023 16:45:24 GMT -5
Mark Shapiro at a media conference today said that they are looking at cutting the number of house shows because they’re “dilutive” from a “margin perspective” (not profitable enough).
I wonder how many they will cut and if it will have an appreciable impact on the number of dates wrestlers are required to work (which could in turn be beneficial for attracting free agent talent).
Here’s the exact quote, which makes it sound like they will definitely not cut all house shows:
|
|
Legion
Fry's dog Seymour
Amy Pond's #1 fan
Hail Hydra!
Posts: 23,408
|
Post by Legion on Dec 5, 2023 16:53:22 GMT -5
I thought they announced they wanted to do this when the finances during the Covid period showed they didnt make money and they were asked about it on a finance call?
I'm sure they used it as an excuse for the huge amount of releases, that when everything came back they planned to cut back on touring...
Now they are just finally in a position to do it.
If it cuts down on workloada and injuries without hurting the talent's bottomlines, it feels like a good idea to me...granted if they use it as a waybto try and stiff people on downside guarantees and still wont let them take outside dates from other places, then I suspect more people will be encouraged to jump ship, so may backfire
|
|
cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,808
|
Post by cjh on Dec 5, 2023 17:11:54 GMT -5
I thought they announced they wanted to do this when the finances during the Covid period showed they didnt make money and they were asked about it on a finance call? I'm sure they used it as an excuse for the huge amount of releases, that when everything came back they planned to cut back on touring... Now they are just finally in a position to do it. If it cuts down on workloada and injuries without hurting the talent's bottomlines, it feels like a good idea to me...granted if they use it as a waybto try and stiff people on downside guarantees and still wont let them take outside dates from other places, then I suspect more people will be encouraged to jump ship, so may backfire Nick Khan said awhile back that WWE now pays the talent flat salaries. Except for their merchandise money, each talent knows exactly what they'll be getting paid every two weeks. |
|
ayumidah
Patti Mayonnaise
DOOM TIME!!!!!
Posts: 30,949
|
Post by ayumidah on Dec 6, 2023 3:41:41 GMT -5
They just sent out a survey through WWE Fan Council to gauge interest in WWE and UFC live events, and unless I read it wrong, the final question seemed to be asking what would entice me to go to combo events. Hm.
|
|
|
|
Post by polarbearpete on Dec 6, 2023 9:26:15 GMT -5
They just sent out a survey through WWE Fan Council to gauge interest in WWE and UFC live events, and unless I read it wrong, the final question seemed to be asking what would entice me to go to combo events. Hm. I said absolutely nothing |
|
|
|
Post by Error on Dec 6, 2023 9:36:48 GMT -5
I thought they announced they wanted to do this when the finances during the Covid period showed they didnt make money and they were asked about it on a finance call? I think they were but Vince felt the talent wasn't as sharp as need be and it let them try things out so they brought them back. |
|
|
|
Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Dec 6, 2023 9:47:35 GMT -5
I thought they announced they wanted to do this when the finances during the Covid period showed they didnt make money and they were asked about it on a finance call? I think they were but Vince felt the talent wasn't as sharp as need be and it let them try things out so they brought them back. WWE ticket sales bottomed out in 2019, they were losing money on shows left, right and centre. Even before COVID shut things down they had stopped booking US house shows, they only had a handful booked in Canada and an overseas tour They didn’t go back to a full tour schedule until well after COVID. It started with once weekend a month, and slowly climbed back up a business started to pop EDIT: I was at a house show in Brandon, MB in Jan or Feb of 2020 and that was the last North American house show currently on the schedule. |
|
|
|
Post by OGBoardPoster2005 on Dec 6, 2023 10:52:35 GMT -5
I'm surprised they didn't go away a while back, it seems passe in this era of TV money and getting the most of your investments.
Its a lot more efficient to run meaningful shows than to have several non-televised ones.
|
|
|
|
Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Dec 6, 2023 11:15:46 GMT -5
I mean the UFC's current model involves running a lot of their events in the same place and I don't think WWE will ever go fully there but I can see them finding ways to cut costs wherever possible and this area will be included.
|
|
BRV
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants him some Taco Flavored Kisses.
Posts: 17,386
Member is Online
|
Post by BRV on Dec 6, 2023 11:26:28 GMT -5
House shows are a really interesting concept to me.
The upside is that WWE brings its show to cities and towns that otherwise would never have the opportunity to see them live (looking at the next month of house show dates, some cities and towns that would never in a million years host a Raw or SmackDown include Utica, NY; Rochester, MN; Wenatchee, WA; Las Cruces, NM; and Corbin, KY just to name a few). They also provide the wrestlers with the opportunity to sort of experiment with moves, gimmicks, and personas in front of a live audience, but with the sort of safety net of knowing it's not going to be seen across the world. And for a lot of fans - myself included - house shows are how they were first exposed to live pro wrestling.
That said, reducing the house show dates would also reduce the amount of travel and wear and tear on the wrestlers, as that's one fewer flight or long car ride, one fewer match, and dozens of fewer bumps. Also, if you look at the ticket prices for house shows in areas that regularly host WWE (New York, Boston, etc.), the prices are now almost the same as for Raw or SmackDown, so it's not like it's this cheap brand of family entertainment.
|
|
ayumidah
Patti Mayonnaise
DOOM TIME!!!!!
Posts: 30,949
|
Post by ayumidah on Dec 6, 2023 13:49:58 GMT -5
They just sent out a survey through WWE Fan Council to gauge interest in WWE and UFC live events, and unless I read it wrong, the final question seemed to be asking what would entice me to go to combo events. Hm. I said absolutely nothing yeah my response was I'm not interested in UFC at all. |
|
|
|
Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Dec 6, 2023 14:35:07 GMT -5
I said absolutely nothing yeah my response was I'm not interested in UFC at all. I love WWE, I love UFC. I have zero interest in any sort of mixed card Inoki Bom Ba Ye shit. |
|
cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,808
|
Post by cjh on Dec 6, 2023 14:40:40 GMT -5
yeah my response was I'm not interested in UFC at all. I love WWE, I love UFC. I have zero interest in any sort of mixed card Inoki Bom Ba Ye shit. Did they actually ask that or did they just ask about interest in attending a UFC event and a WWE event two nights in a row? They've mentioned the idea of having a UFC card on Saturday and a WWE show on Sunday in the same building. |
|
|
|
Post by polarbearpete on Dec 6, 2023 14:42:50 GMT -5
I love WWE, I love UFC. I have zero interest in any sort of mixed card Inoki Bom Ba Ye shit. Did they actually ask that or did they just ask about interest in attending a UFC event and a WWE event two nights in a row? They've mentioned the idea of having a UFC card on Saturday and a WWE show on Sunday in the same building. It was about attending shows held the same weekend. |
|
|
|
Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Dec 6, 2023 14:49:13 GMT -5
Did they actually ask that or did they just ask about interest in attending a UFC event and a WWE event two nights in a row? They've mentioned the idea of having a UFC card on Saturday and a WWE show on Sunday in the same building. It was about attending shows held the same weekend. Oh, that’s different. I’d likely be open to go to that, but I usually go to WWE with my friends and their kids and the kids would have no interest in UFC |
|
|
|
Post by Final Countdown Jones on Dec 6, 2023 14:52:58 GMT -5
UFC/WWE combo shows sound utterly miserable even as someone who can watch both. Just a horrible idea serving two markets looking for wholly different things. I think even trying to run combo weekends is expecting a crossover audience that might not really be there, but if I did a Mania weekend I'd much rather mainline indie shows and keep my wrestle on than go watch a UFC PPV.
|
|
Chiral
Salacious Crumb
Posts: 76,573 
|
Post by Chiral on Dec 6, 2023 15:14:12 GMT -5
House shows are a really interesting concept to me. The upside is that WWE brings its show to cities and towns that otherwise would never have the opportunity to see them live (looking at the next month of house show dates, some cities and towns that would never in a million years host a Raw or SmackDown include Utica, NY; Rochester, MN; Wenatchee, WA; Las Cruces, NM; and Corbin, KY just to name a few). They also provide the wrestlers with the opportunity to sort of experiment with moves, gimmicks, and personas in front of a live audience, but with the sort of safety net of knowing it's not going to be seen across the world. And for a lot of fans - myself included - house shows are how they were first exposed to live pro wrestling. That said, reducing the house show dates would also reduce the amount of travel and wear and tear on the wrestlers, as that's one fewer flight or long car ride, one fewer match, and dozens of fewer bumps. Also, if you look at the ticket prices for house shows in areas that regularly host WWE (New York, Boston, etc.), the prices are now almost the same as for Raw or SmackDown, so it's not like it's this cheap brand of family entertainment. This sums up how I feel 100%, it would be great for the wrestlers to have less travel, but it is sad as I have so many good memories of house shows. It's nice to have shows where the wrestlers getting room to experiment, dick around and have fun, and that WWE can put out live shows for audiences that wouldn't get them otherwise. I think like half of the wrestling shows I've been to are house shows in Rochester so it would be sad if they stopped coming there entirely. |
|
|
|
Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Dec 6, 2023 15:55:07 GMT -5
House shows are a really interesting concept to me. The upside is that WWE brings its show to cities and towns that otherwise would never have the opportunity to see them live (looking at the next month of house show dates, some cities and towns that would never in a million years host a Raw or SmackDown include Utica, NY; Rochester, MN; Wenatchee, WA; Las Cruces, NM; and Corbin, KY just to name a few). They also provide the wrestlers with the opportunity to sort of experiment with moves, gimmicks, and personas in front of a live audience, but with the sort of safety net of knowing it's not going to be seen across the world. And for a lot of fans - myself included - house shows are how they were first exposed to live pro wrestling. That said, reducing the house show dates would also reduce the amount of travel and wear and tear on the wrestlers, as that's one fewer flight or long car ride, one fewer match, and dozens of fewer bumps. Also, if you look at the ticket prices for house shows in areas that regularly host WWE (New York, Boston, etc.), the prices are now almost the same as for Raw or SmackDown, so it's not like it's this cheap brand of family entertainment. This sums up how I feel 100%, it would be great for the wrestlers to have less travel, but it is sad as I have so many good memories of house shows. It's nice to have shows where the wrestlers getting room to experiment, dick around and have fun, and that WWE can put out live shows for audiences that wouldn't get them otherwise. I think like half of the wrestling shows I've been to are house shows in Rochester so it would be sad if they stopped coming there entirely. House shows are really good at maintaining engagement with fans who don’t watch every week. I know a lot of people who rarely watch wrestling, but always take their kids to WWE the 2 times a year it comes to Winnipeg. But, in todays day and age, it’s cheaper and easier to try and catch the attention of those fans on social media then with live shows. When you’re talking pure dollars and cents, that’s probably the logical decision. EDIT: And I should say, getting those families into a show once or twice a year is probably doing more to sell younger kids merch, toys and games then if they were regular viewers of Raw. It’s a tough balance to figure out financially. |
|
|
|
Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Dec 8, 2023 6:49:57 GMT -5
House shows are like NXT used to be - they shouldn't need to make money to be worth doing. You can practice spots and even whole matches before they are on TV. Talent get a chance to make their stupid mistakes in front of 10,000 people instead of 2 million.
Numerous big name wrestlers say house shows are more fun because they're less booked - Jericho, Batista, I think even Foley actually - and a lot of fans these days say that house shows are more fun because they have to be a good show rather than progress the TV storylines, which often suck.
It probably is the right move financially to cut them, but I think it'll be worse for basically everything else
|
|
