wrestling / Columns
The Hamilton Ave Journal 06.21.08: Volume 1 – Issue 39
THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL
By JP Prag
Volume 1 – Issue 39
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Hamilton Ave Journal is the only wrestling news report focused solely on the business of wrestling. Here in the Journal we not only look at the stories that are important to the investor and business-minded person, but also delve deeper into stories that most fans of wrestling would overlook. That is because the Journal is about getting the heart of the matters that affect the companies and outlooks of the wrestling world.
And where is Hamilton Ave? That is the location of the WWE Production Studio in Stamford, CT, and thus the most powerful place in the wrestling world. Besides, The East Main Street Journal just does not have the right ring to it.
Who am I? I am JP Prag: consultant, entrepreneur, businessman, journalist, and wrestling fan.
Now, ring the bell because the market is open.
WHAT’S NEWS
The Journal’s front page area known as What’s News isn’t just about telling you what has happened. The stories in this section are about what will have an effect on the wrestling industry, individual federations, and the wallets of the fans.
LEAD STORY: WWE expands to the Indian Sub-continent
Back in 2002, Ten Sports launched on the Indian Sub-continent with the WWE as one of their premier partners. Since that time, Ten Sports has grown into a multi-national channel reaching India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Maldives. Over the past two months, the company has been signing in long-term deals including the West Indies Cricket Board and the UEFA Champions League.
Now, the WWE and Ten Sports have come to a new long-term agreement that will give the content distributer 450 hours of first-run programming, including RAW, SmackDown, ECW, and PPVs through 2014. Chris McDonald, CEO of Ten Sports, had this to say about the deal:
“WWE has been with Ten Sports since our channel launched back in 2002. We are delighted to extend the relationship through the end of 2014.”
Added Peter Hutton, Senior Vice Presidnet:
“We have the key building blocks in place to continue our position as the sub-continent’s most watched sports channel and we look forward to further increasing our market share.”
The WWE was quite happy with the deal as Andrew Whitaker, President said:
“Our new agreement is a real testament to the strength of our business relationship with Ten Sports as a key global network partner. WWE boasts a strong record of delivering ratings success to our network partners across the world and we fully intend to continue to build the same level of success with Ten Sports.”
WWE’s Dominic Hayes, Vice President and managing director, television and digital added:
“Thanks to their broad reach and commitment to the WWE brand, Ten Sports is one of WWE’s most important business partners in the region, as demonstrated by the prime time scheduling of WWE programming.”
The WWE’s international growth has been phenomenal, in contrast to domestic contraction. This deal is another example of the WWE expanding their presence in other markets. Right now, domestic revenue still account for 70% of revenues, but the WWE should be looking to reduce that number as the years move on.
TNA plans another trip to the UK
After a successful sold out tour of England, TNA has decided to return to the UK on a tour of larger venues to capitalize on international growth. Tickets go on sale on Friday June 27, 2008 for the following shows that will take place in January:
This is quite an ambitious expansion considering the last tour had arenas of just 2,000. The largest paid audience was 6,800 for Lockdown in Lowell, MA—a show this reporter attended and can confirm was not sold out. As Larry Csonka pointed out, this is a four times expected growth in just six month. TNA has made large jumps like this before, most notably for their tour of Israel that they had to cancel due to low ticket sales.
The other issue with these arenas is the rent for one night. TNA will have to get to at least half-capacity to make this trip break even for them. Although it is commendable that TNA thinks they have a product to grow, over reaching their ability has cost them in the past. TNA should concentrate on slow, attainable goals instead of just a big jump. It is mistake ROH and the WWE make, and one that TNA should learn from.
Midway sets a launch party
While TNA announced that the August PPV Hard Justice will take place in Trenton, NJ, another event is planned for that evening. Midway games will host the long awaited launch party for TNA iMPACT starting on Saturday August 9th. During that day, the media and guests will have the opportunity for hands-on play, meet-and-greets with TNA stars, and interviews with Midway developers. On Sunday, all will be invited to the Hard Justice PPV.
Few new details have leaked about the game since the release date was moved back to September, although Petey Williams recently stated that the game will now feature downloadable characters. When this reporter reviewed the game, one of the key issues was that the roster was outdated. This appears to have been addressed by this latest development.
411mania’s own Jeff Small, James “JT” Thomlison, and this reporter will be on hand to cover the events and give you the latest news before the games official launch data.
WWE loses legal great
This past week, it was announced the WWE Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary Ed Kaufman, age 49, will be leaving the company. No details are available at this time for the reasons for Mr. Kaufman’s departure, but he has been described as a “dedicated employee who was constantly on call”.
Mr. Kaufman has been with the WWE since January 1997, working his way from Vice President to Senior Vice President and finally Executive Vice President. During that time, be grew the WWE’s in-house legal department from just himself to a 13-person team. Given the longevity of his time at the WWE and all he has accomplished, Mr. Kaufman may simply be tired and looking for a break. Most likely he has built someone or several others to take his place upon his departure, and a spot will be available for him should he ever decide to return. In the meanwhile, the WWE will most likely keep him on call as a legal consultant.
Newsbites
Some items of note in the rest of the wrestling business world:
MARKETPLACE
In the Marketplace we look at the trends in television ratings. This section is less for critical analysis by the Journal but more for the reader to see what is really going on and to draw their own conclusions.
As with stocks, here in the Journal we track the progress of television ratings. If ratings are the barometer by which we judge the product, then over the course of 52 weeks we should be able to see patterns, trends, and anomalies. Please note that gaps in the chart below are due to data not being released/available.
For the week ending Thursday June 19, 2008, here are the current standings of our shows:
RAW
Close (This Week’s Rating): 3.3
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 3.0
Percentage Change: ▲ 10.0%
52-Week High: 4.1
52-Week Low: 2.5
All Time High: 8.1
All Time Low: 1.8
SmackDown*
Close (This Week’s Rating): 2.2
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 2.4
Percentage Change: ▼ 8.3%
52-Week High: 2.9
52-Week Low: 2.2
All Time High: 5.8
All Time Low: 1.0
* SmackDown! ratings may include fast overnight if final ratings are not posted. Also, SmackDown! ratings are for the prior week as overnights are not available before this article goes to print.
ECW
Close (This Week’s Rating): 1.0
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 1.1
Percentage Change: ▼ 13.2%
52-Week High: 1.8
52-Week Low: 0.6
All Time High: 2.3
All Time Low: 0.6
TNA iMPACT**
Close (This Week’s Rating): 0.9
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 0.9
Percentage Change: ▲ 7.0%
52-Week High: 1.2
52-Week Low: 0.9
All Time High: 1.2
All Time Low: 0.6
** TNA iMPACT’s are for the prior week as ratings may not be available at the time of the Journal’s posting
Analysis:
This was the week of two-steps forward and two-steps back. RAW and iMPACT both saw rebounds that amounted to large percentage gains, but are far below what the show was averaging just six months ago. Both have a long way to go to reclaim past gains, but not as far as ECW does. The show slipped to a 0.99 rating, marking the second time this year that ECW has been at a 1.0 or below. In all of 2007, ECW had two shows with a rating below a 1.0; both were in December. One was the week the show aired on a Thursday night versus iMPACT and the other was on Christmas Day. Scheduling would seem to confirm that ECW will be tagged with RAW starting in August, but can two shows in such a ratings mess help each other? And where does that leave SmackDown (which also saw an 8.3% slip this week)?
MONEY AND INVESTING
We all know that wrestling is a business, but we don’t often pay attention to what sells and makes money. Money and Investing looks into the top selling items in the world of wrestling and any interesting figures that may have come out this week.
What are the top ten selling items for the WWE? From WWEShopZone.com:
1. Jeff Hardy Armbands ($15)
2. The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment DVD ($34.95, on sale $19.62)
3. Nature Boy Ric Flair DVD/T-Shirt Package ($59.95, on sale $25.63)
4. Nature Boy Ric Flair- The Definitive Collection ($34.95, on sale $19.80)
5. The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment DVD/T-Shirt Package ($59.95, on sale $27.63)
6. The Rock Classic Superstars #19 Action Figure ($19.99, on sale $13.99)
7. Nikita Koloff Classic Superstars #19 Action Figure ($19.99, on sale $12.99)
8. Hardys Purple Logo Pendant ($10)
9. WWE Heritage III Chrome Trading Cards ($3)
10. John Cena 8-Bit T-Shirt ($25)
Where to even begin with this list? Well, to being with, for the first time in months Triple H did not make the list at all. The only current WWE stars to hold positions were Jeff Hardy and John Cena—although Cena was almost knocked from the list himself. Meanwhile, it was all the Rock and Ric Flair (with a little Nikita Koloff to spice things up), showing the lack of salability of many of the regular stars on the roster compared to men who are not really around. But more important than all of that was the price of what was selling. Of the items listed, 60% had a discounted price to move more volume. In these tough economic times, even the WWE must discount to move inventory, but this will have far reaching effects. Come the WWE’s Q2 report, expect sales on merchandise to be flat or higher, but the margin on them to sharply decline. In other words, it will cost the WWE more profit to make the same revenue. That is not a healthy sign, but a mistake retailers make time and time again in order to boost the top line and please investors.
TNA releases a list of Top Ten selling items, but the list has not been updated to current products in quite some time. Until TNA updates the list, the Journal will be take the list of featured products and sorting by most popular. When done so, the list comes up as:
1. TNA Global iMPACT DVD ($19.99)
2. LAX Special ($59.99)
3. AJ Styles “Unim Phenomenous” T-Shirt ($19.99)
4. Nash “Big Sexy Tour” T-shirt ($19.99)
5. Autographed TNA Wrestling Program ($79.99)
6. Samoa Joe “Drastic Times, Drastic Measures” T-Shirt ($19.99)
7. Complete 100 Card Set ($24.99) TNA
8. Kurt Angle T-Shirt Triple Pack ($26.99)
9. Sting “Logo” T-Shirt ($19.99)
10. “Cross The Line” T-Shirt ($19.99)
It looks like TNA is getting their wish as the Trading Cards jumped from below the list to number 7 in just a week. Also make its debut is a high ticket autograph collection. Items like this are extremely low cost to produce (just the wrestlers’ times which they already have at iMPACT tapings) which means a large margin that TNA gets to send straight to the bottom line. Meanwhile, for the first time in month Shark Boy actually dropped below the line, showing that his shirt may have finally reached its saturation point.
PERSONAL JOURNAL
Wrestling isn’t just about watching and reading. The best way to be a wrestling fan is to experience it live. Where is wrestling coming to in the next 2 weeks? The Personal Journal answers that question.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
22 (Jun) Amarillo, TX Cincinnati, OH |
23
Amarillo, TX Orlando, FL |
24
Houston, TX Orlando, FL |
25 | 26 | 27
Lubbock, TX Dayton, OH |
28
Abilene, TX Chicago Ridge, IL |
29 |
30
Oklahoma City, OK |
1 (Jul)
Tulsa, OK |
2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Albany, GA |
Do you know a wrestling event coming up? Send one in to The Hamilton Ave Journal and we’ll be sure to add it to the list.
EDITORIALS
The Editorials section is designed for you, the readers, to respond to the views presented in the Journal, send an important news item, or talk about another overlooked business related item in wrestling. Just beware: the Journal reserves the right to respond back.
From the commentary section last week, everyone was interested in how $1 million could not boost the WWE’s ratings, starting with Sly Reference:
Not only should wrestling do better in a recession because it’s escapist fantasy, but also because it’s free on TV rather than $10 at a movie theater.
It seems that the most popular programs for TV right now are shows with strong, consistent characterizations, long-term plots and excellent dialog. I’m thinking of Lost and CSI in particular, and the writing in wrestling is light-years away from that. There’s no benefit from long-term viewing.
Then there’s the fact that the writing centers around the main event and ignores everyone else. One of the nice things about the Attitude Era was all the effort that went into the midcard. You had characters like Goldust and Ken Shamrock who were built up and developed even though they never even got close to the main event. The tag teams constantly had things to do, from the Gang Wars to the TLC matches. They might not have all been good, but they were long term storylines. Nowadays, if a wrestler’s not in the main event, he’s lost in the shuffle.
Vince has never been a genius when it came to storytelling. Let’s face it, the first time WWE had no competition, he came up with wrestling plumbers and that sort of nonsense. He’s in the perfect position to do something great with the company, but has no idea how to do it. It would take bringing in younger creative staff who are more in touch with the next generation, then letting them run with the shows. Vince is not about to give up that much control.
Also in the Attitude Era, they did more long-term planning. Actually, that started with WCW during the nWo program. A key storyline was written for a year and half out. Afterward, though, there was no plan and the week-to-week booking showed through in the product until it hit ratings levels that were, well, pretty much the same as the WWE’s ratings today. The “edginess” of the Attitude Era was a reflection of the time, but you are correct in that is not what is popular today. Instead, it is long-term thinking and more cerebral shows. Wrestling may be a “low brow” entertainment, but that does not mean it has to be written for the lowest common denominator. Children’s movies are often written with several layers for different audiences to understand. The best example is the first Shrek movie which has the action and colorful characters for the kids, the big star names for those who cared about that, a plot that was well thought out and developed, references that adults would understand that kids would not pick up on, and even deeper references to the animators hatred of their former boss Disney. Instead of building a product on layers, the WWE has been content to build a portion of the product around nothing.
When it seems like they might do something with depth (HBK/Batista over what should have been done about Flair), they chose to dumb it down to “I don’t like you”. Why the WWE is afraid of depth is a mystery, but it would help Vince and company if they had people more in touch with today’s audience. Mr. McMahon was the one who pulled the “Blue Witch Project” because he had not seen the “Blair Witch Project” and didn’t get the reference. There is a whole other world of writing, booking, and cultural styles out there, and the WWE misses them all because they want to tell people what to like, not feed to the audience.
Like mentioned, the WWE used to be able to capture depth and characterization on all levels, and 411manai’s own Mathew Sforcina let everyone know who was responsible for that:
And who was the guy who was insistent on EVERYONE having a storyline? Why, IWC whipping boy Vince Russo!
That said, I blame the current downturn in the WWE product on the committee style of booking they have going. When it’s just a couple of guys booking, you spend less time debating and arguing and more time actually writing.
Agreed, a group will spend more time to trying to reach consensus, and compromise usually means everyone gives up something. Sure, if only a couple of people are doing the booking they will make mistakes that would be filtered out in a committee, but they will also hit upon highs that will never make it through the filtration process. There is a strong difference between collaboration and compromise, and the committee process shows why the latter has serious faults. JD highlights another fault in the current style:
I think the problem with WWE as a whole is that they are too worried about the here and now. If an idea doesn’t work on the first show, it is scrapped. There is a lack of patience. Cena, Orton and Batista all became stars over time. It was a very slow progression. Now a wrestler or angle gets no pop, the very next show, everything is forgotten.
Patience is the virtue that seems to have been forgotten. And all of these attempts to create instant success have only led to further downturns. The more you try to pop things one week, the less impact it will have the next time. Guest is thinking along the same lines:
The WWE has been stuck in the ‘shock everybody back’ mode for quite some time now. I am absolutely appalled that they are willing to give away big money matches like Cena/Triple H and last years Cena/Bobby Lashley match on throwaway PPV’s, just because they have no patience.
This business has always thrived on the build. Whether it’s the build to Wrestlemania or the build to next months show at the local armory, professional wrestling needs the build. Without the build, it’s just some guys rolling around in their underwear. I realize Vince has investors to please, but those investors need to be conscience of what they are investing in. WWE needs to make a big move right now, like turning Batista heel and moving him to Raw, but having the patience to push him as a monster over several months time and build to a huge confrontation (against Cena?) all the while giving us good TV and feeding him the Hardys, and HBK’s and making us believe they can win. It’s a simple formula that has worked for generations now and can not be abandoned if this business is to survive.
The merits of your booking choice can be debated, but your sentiment is in the right place. The build is incredibly important, not just the payoff. The build is the long-term plan that has been severely missing. And the investors are not the main problem; it is the WWE’s corporate sponsors. The McMahon family is by far the largest owners of stock in the company. Although they do want the stock price higher, it does not affect them on a day-to-day basis. But when NBC/Universal is breathing down their necks for better ratings (especially after just signing an extension to 2010), then the WWE must respond. But they are responding poorly and the results are apparent.
Although this poor performance seems mostly a domestic phenomenon, as JO points out:
The industry seems to be on a downward slope in the US. However, here in Europe it seems to be the other way around. I don’t know of how it’s in Asia or other continents. Maybe you could take a look in the next edition of the Journal. Maybe even make a special edition some time, for those of your readers who don’t live in the USA.
This is something the Journal intends to investigate further. But as noted last week, Spain appears to be one of the countries most ripe for a wrestling war with all three WWE brands, TNA, and the NWE all having a television presence. Bradlieus also thinks the international growth is the way to go:
I agree with JO, wrestling doesn’t appear to be on a downward spiral internationally… and when you think about it, WWE’s international fans and ratings combined must far outnumber it’s US fans.
And another thing, ratings are based on only 10,000 people in the midwest? Out of a country of, what, 250 million (roughly)? How is that a fair and reliable sample? That’s less than half a percent of the whole country! It’s astonishing to think that huge business decisions are made on such a small amount of data…. what if wrestling is just as big as it always was in other parts of the US?
Local ratings show vast fluctuations in network shows. While SmackDown is extremely popular in the Northeast and South, it is less popular in the mid-Atlantic and Pacific Northwest. The United States now has a population of over 300 million, and it was only a year ago that the sample was just 5,000 people. Statisticians who work for Nielson believe that 10,000 is more than representative, and that states like Iowa and Ohio have diverse populations that are mirrors of the country as a whole. Not to say that there are not Nielson families in major metropolitan areas, but most Nielson families are from the mid-west.
Plenty more was written, so be sure to take a look. And of course, a week would not be complete without a good dose of JP Prag’s own HIDDEN HIGHLIGHTS!!
CLOSING BELL
This concludes Issue #39 (Volume 1) of THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL. Join us next week as we get ready to ring the bell again.
Till then!
