I wouldn't be surprised if Vince thinks the WWE brand is what's driving the NXT sales.

 

To a certain extent, it is. I mean, NXT is one of the most watched shows on the Network. Even saying only 10% of Network subscribers watch NXT, which is probably an absurdly conservative number, that's still 100,000 viewers, which is likely twice to three times the number of people who were following ROH.

 

 

Plus, NXT is also on Hulu Plus. Even if only a tiny fraction of Hulu's customers watch it, that's still more exposure than ROH.

 

TNA, ROH, etc. are fucking dumb for not trying to get on some kind of streaming service.

Don't make up numbers. If someone knows how many people are watching NXT I'd love to know. WWE should know.

 

And getting 4,000 folks to buy 15$US tickets at the biggest pro wrestling gathering in the world IS shooting fish in the barrel. All the gear is already there. Everything's there. Even the customers.

 

The roll out has been smart, cost covered, and positioned in no-lose situations. That's good, but it's cautious. It's likely to go very slow, and at some point has to show it's own legs. Not even close to that point.

 

I would contribute it quite a bit to brand. But it's not like NXT is an empty husk behind WWE.

ROH has a streaming service - anyone can watch their TV product for free.

As a point of reference.. NXT as a TV show in 2010 was getting more viewers than there are Network subscribers.

 

Would that have been a viable touring brand? I wasn't paying attention then, serious question.

Don't make up numbers. If someone knows how many people are watching NXT I'd love to know. WWE should know.

 

And getting 4,000 folks to buy 15$US tickets at the biggest pro wrestling gathering in the world IS shooting fish in the barrel. All the gear is already there. Everything's there. Even the customers.

 

Last year NXT was something that mostly disinterested fans walked by at Axxess on the way to getting an Alicia Fox autograph. Now it's selling out a 4,000 seat building immediately. It's been a good year for them.

ROH TV is around 400,000 viewers.

 

Does anyone track hulu #s?

 

If I was a wrestling company, I'd be dying to crack a deal with Amazon or the other big streamers.

 

Let the streamers figure out their business model, and show how wrestling can help that.

 

Wanna beat Vince? Search for his products on Amazon, but have the banner ad on the results page lead to your streaming show. Well, it'll at least piss him off. heh

 

 

Don't make up numbers. If someone knows how many people are watching NXT I'd love to know. WWE should know.

 

And getting 4,000 folks to buy 15$US tickets at the biggest pro wrestling gathering in the world IS shooting fish in the barrel. All the gear is already there. Everything's there. Even the customers.

 

Last year NXT was something that mostly disinterested fans walked by at Axxess on the way to getting an Alicia Fox autograph. Now it's selling out a 4,000 seat building immediately. It's been a good year for them.

Maybe last year they forgot the fish.

 

They have had a good year, I'm not taking it away from them. I even think it's a smart move, and a savvy wrestling move. If WWE wants some of the weekend auxiliary money generated by WM, they may have knocked "one more tshirt" off a lot of people's expense list.

 

If they're selling $5 NXT gimmicks inside too, color me impressed!

 

I just think two shows, with plenty of caveats, is a bit too soon.

Yeah, that's fair. If the next shows are at the ECW Arena, then that's only 2,000 seats for a show that will draw people from all over the Northeast, so that's an immediate sellout. May be a bit before we really know.

Aside: It may have been different for Supercard of Honor but I thought ROH was $40 for first row, $30 for 2nd through 4th and then $20. I don't recall the $50 option for the War of the Worlds show.

Philly shows for those NXT dates would be piggy backing on the ROH crowds as well.

 

They're trying to build.. something. NY, and by extension WWE, has always been about bringing in well rounded talent. Cycle em in, cycle em out. Maybe they wanna change that. Or it's the same thing, just as today's wrestling landscape dictates.

 

But as far as who watches NXT and what they could draw, etc.. We kinda already know that. The indie scene is what it is in the US at this point.

 

The question is, what the hell for? These kinds of numbers scared them off the ECW touring project after all.

ECW had higher production costs, was running the same buildings the RAW and SmackDown! tours were, similarly priced talent, etc. Everything from a numbers standpoint shows that you can do a tour with NXT at a fraction of the cost and if done correctly, can be profitable. That's what they're trying to figure out now.

I meant attendance numbers as they related to viewership numbers. ECW had it's own short lived house show circuit. I'm not sure if they used the same buildings as the WWE house show loop. The ECW TV was folded into SD before they stopped running the house shows, at least that's what I remember.

 

But yes, I understand there's a difference in cost. If you've crunched numbers on a proposed touring cost, would you like to share what you've come up with?

 

I don't know what they've trying to figure out. The indie market isn't rocket science. I don't know why WWE would want a piece of it. Or even if they do. (Do the wrestlers know?) I think they're just brand pumping. Be smart, position it well, and give it time and space, to see what is.. NXT.

 

(Aaand I'll show myself the door for that one..)

ROH has a streaming service - anyone can watch their TV product for free.

 

Where? How? Is it on PS3/4, Roku, etc.? If not, you can't compare them to WWE Network or WWE's presence on Hulu. The latter gives mainstream audiences and casual fans access to WWE. TNA and ROH absolutely need a presence on Hulu or Netflix. The fact that they seemingly haven't pursued such an avenue is mind-boggling to me.

 

ROH has a streaming service - anyone can watch their TV product for free.

 

Where? How? Is it on PS3/4, Roku, etc.? If not, you can't compare them to WWE Network or WWE's presence on Hulu. The latter gives mainstream audiences and casual fans access to WWE. TNA and ROH absolutely need a presence on Hulu or Netflix. The fact that they seemingly haven't pursued such an avenue is mind-boggling to me.

 

My comment was in regards to their exposure; while only 40% of markets show their TV - everyone can stream it for free on their site.

 

I don't know the requirements or contracts involved with Hulu, and I don't disagree - seems like there is no downside. I don't know if Sinclair has an issue there. Is Lucha Underground on Hulu? Is anyone outside NXT?

RoH streaming is a joke. It looks like dogshit.

Plus having the TV show on the RoH website isn't really doing ANYTHING to attract people who don't know what RoH is. You could at least catch some new eyes on something like Hulu.

It's also a week behind if you aren't paying. AAA being on Youtube is better than what RoH currently has.

 

TNA was on Hulu at one point. But it was like months behind and disappeared after about six months.

Wrestling (like most of America) has no idea how to monetize the internet.

 

You'd think generations of using free content to drive dollars would give wrestling an edge. But nope.

 

Wrestling has typically been at the fore front when it comes new media, so I'm actually hopeful someone will figure it out.

Maybe this is me reading too much into stuff, but it seems like Stephanie and Triple H are way more into NXT than they are WWE itself. Looking at their actions as a whole, and the way they treat NXT it just seems like they would much rather be there doing what they want than being in WWE dealing with what Vince and Kevin Dunn want. As I said, this is probably me reading too much into this, but I get the distinct impression that they have decided NXT is their world, their baby, and WWE is just a job they do.

And getting 4,000 folks to buy 15$US tickets at the biggest pro wrestling gathering in the world IS shooting fish in the barrel. All the gear is already there. Everything's there. Even the customers.

 

Aren't the prices higher for the special attraction NXT shows like the last one at the Arnold? The major shows are priced like WWE house shows.

Not sure what they priced the Ohio NXT show at. I only saw secondary market prices. This is the second show out of FL. Nothing else is scheduled out of FL currently. No events for sale past the end of May.

 

House show admission in FL will cost you $10 for GA or $20 for ringside. I think it's $10 GA $15 ringside for their TV at Full Sail, but I'm not certain.

 

If they've charged more at the door for the NXT Specials, I wouldn't be surprised. But I'm not sure what you are referring to as NXT's major shows ?

 

My point being tho, this is easy money. This isn't going on the road and turning a profit. If only because costs arn't being applied appropriately for this show.

 

Also, it is smart. NXT has been positioned well and in plenty of win-win situations. It's brand strengthening not money making at this point.

 

I'm most comfortable thinking of NXT as R&D than anything else. But really NXT's purpose at this point is hard to figure, I'm not sure WWE has a clear direction or idea. It's just a place for a lot of ideas about wrestling, but not connected to the monetary formula that's traditionally driven wrestling.

 

Lucha Underground seems similar, but I'll admit plenty of ignorance on that subject. Only seen some TV and don't really know the nuts and bolts.

Sorry, I should have said "special attraction" shows. Ticketmaster had seats for the San Jose and Ohio shows at $100. The Florida shows are priced at $20 for the same seats.

How many $100 seats were there?

 

I was going off most of the seats were at $15. If they're moslty selling at indie market prices, that's pretty different.

The $100 tickets were a VIP meet Ric Flair, Ryback and Big Show before the show. I think my balcony seat cost $36.

Thank you Mad Dog.

 

I'm pretty sure you went to one of the Ohio shows (Arnold Classic?) Are you referring to prices there or the San Jose WM show?

 

I can still taste rubber sole over my previous comments about prices, so just want some clarity.