Eric Bischoff Recalls Gene Okerlund’s Pitch For WCW Hotline Business

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about WCW Hotline. He explained the financial arrangement with host “Mean” Gene Okerlund and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On Okerlund receiving a favorable percentage of the hotline’s revenue: “I don’t remember the exact structure of the deal. But what was — what made it easy for me to do a favorable deal for Gene is that he wasn’t just coming in and hosting the 900 line. [I’m] pretty sure he came in with the idea. Now, other people had had the idea, and maybe other people even tried it. But Gene came in with a plan. I mean, he came in obviously when we first started talking as an announcer, but he had ideas, and he brought them. And the 900 line was one of them. And Gene really wanted to manage the process. He didn’t want to just be the host; he wanted to build that line of revenue.

“And Gene came from a radio background. General manager, talent, obviously, but Gene Oakland really grew up in the business of radio. Aand I think Gene was excited at that stage in his life to take — much like you know you have done Conrad. You stumble into something that’s interesting for you, and you figure out a way to use it to help build your business. Podcasts in the mortgage industry, for example. Gene Okerlund now was in this sports entertainment space, but he wanted to take the knowledge and experience he had in radio and find ways to modify or use that experience to help build a revenue model for WCW.”

On how Okerland handled it: “The way he came in and presented it and his ability to execute it. Because that’s a big part of it. You know, great ideas are a dime a dozen; the ability to execute them is what matters. And Gene had the ability and the passion to execute it. So he was able to negotiate a favorable deal. Was it 60/40, 50/50, 70/30? Either way, I don’t know. But it was more than just, ‘Hey, you’re talent, do this too.’ It wasn’t that.”

On the money: “It was significant. I don’t want to sound like I’m just missing it was it? Could it have been 50/50? Sure. And here’s the other thing; it was found revenue. It’s not like I’m sharing an existing line of revenue, hoping that this person is going to increase that revenue sufficiently so that I’m actually getting a return on my investment by hiring this person. That would be the normal formula that you evaluate an opportunity with. But in this case, he was coming in with a line of revenue that didn’t previously exist. I’m much more willing to share that.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.