Should TNA Relocate to the UK?

[rbv13]

I’ve had this conversation a handful of times over the last few years but never here at wrestle zone. The majority of the board seems fairly intelligent and if nothing else highly entertaining so I thought I'd bring it to the table. The question being posed is simple, should TNA relocate their base of operations to the UK?

I am of the opinion it is an option they should seriously consider. I know there are pros and cons on each side of the fence but with the current and foreseeable future status of the industry this is the gutsy move that could boost the company.

The first con argument always involves the talent. There are concerns about relocating, work visas and travel. Only a small handful would have to relocate. That would include a director of operations and staff members, if any wrestlers would volunteer to make the move to improve their worth in the company that would be welcomed. I did some research on obtaining a work visa in the UK and the process seems fairly simple. It is actually easier to enter the UK for work than the US, unless you are sneaking in. The norm would only require talents to be in the UK for one week a month. I would propose a rotating schedule where extra tips or extended stays are required to fill house show needs. I will concede that travel expenses are going to be a bit higher but the difference can be subsidized through other avenues such as advertising and merchandise.

(Note: I've heard "What about Jeff Hardy?" My answer is to hell with Jeff Hardy. The guy can't leave the country for work, that is his problem. No way in hell should any company alter the way it conducts business on the account of one individual.)

TNA has already proven Live Television is not a viable option for the company. The expresses to produce such events has taken a major toll on their finical standing. With regular live shows out of the question what does it matter where they film at? I know they run live Impact on occasion and four pay per views a year but that should not hold back what could be a good business move. The live Impacts will air in the UK market live and on delay elsewhere. When it comes to pay per views alter the start times so they air live in the States during the afternoon. Sure they are going to lose some byes in the States but to be honest they are not that strong to begin with. In turn airing prime time in England might boost sales and balance everything out in the end. I do realize they will need to add quite a bit of UK buys to equal the monetary value of buys in the States but it is reachable.

With base in the UK TNA grabs a more global perception. It would gateway into the next major market of India and open more doors with promotions in Japan. I know the UK is not the most popular of places with other societies but it sure as hell beats what the world thinks of America. I wouldn’t see the move across the pond affecting any relationships with Latin America.

I guess my biggest argument in favor of the move in simply going were business is hot. Pro Wrestling/Sports Entertainment in on a serious decline in the States. The UK is arguably the hottest spot on the globe. If given a promotion the UK fans would embrace and invest in the product pushing it to heights not seen before by the company.

With the move I would suggest the company makes a serious effort to diversify their roster. They would need representation from the UK, the States, India, Japan and Latin America. I am not talking about roster fillers as seems to be the current norm within the WWE and TNA. I am talking about legitimate stars. This way they have a handful of main event caliber stars to work any show. If AJ main eventer 1 & 2 are unavailable for a give house show tour they can sub in main eventer 3 & 4 and expect the crowd to be happy. Speaking of house shows, with an office still in the States and talent located here TNA can still run regualr small events as to not completly alienate this demographic of the fan base.

Just a thought…………….

 

[Y 2 Jake]

That post is really long. I'm not reading that. I apologise if there's more to your post than just the thread title. But I'll simply be answering the thread title anyway.

No. Don't be silly. TNA is popular in the UK because they come once a year. Bring them full time to the UK and they become Preston City Wrestling and they go from filling the Phones For U aArena to barely filling something with a capacity of 500.

 

[rbv13]

That post is really long. I'm not reading that. I apologise if there's more to your post than just the thread title. But I'll simply be answering the thread title anyway.

No. Don't be silly. TNA is popular in the UK because they come once a year. Bring them full time to the UK and they become Preston City Wrestling and they go from filling the Phones For U aArena to barely filling something with a capacity of 500.

I did get a bit long winded but know a move, at first suggestion, is typically frowned upon so I had to back my stance. Your argument actually supports my stand point in much fewer words. If TNA could pull 500 on a regular basis that would be a step up from the current product.

 

[absent]

I think one of the problems with moving to the UK would be house shows. There's a much smaller amount of cities to cover. That would mean extending the touring to a constant Europe-wide loop in order to generate enough revenue. That would create a lot more admin with work visas for non EU talent. And I don't know if TNA has enough exposure EU-wide to draw even the house show numbers they do in the US.

But yeah UK to India is a much easier cultural cross than USA to India.

 

[PingPongBundy]

I don't think that post was all that long. Anyway, to answer your question, I think business wise, it's a great idea on paper. I just think it would be way too difficult with the current higher ups to pull off. I'm not sure the talent would be on board with it. Part of the limited appeal of working in TNA is the much lighter schedule as opposed to WWE. I doubt they'd be willing to relocate, or do that much traveling on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, on a long term basis. I do think it could work if they taped everything a month or two in advance. There are a number of factors to consider. It could work, but doubtful when it comes to TNA being able to do it right.

 

[Rvdrvd]

I think TNA should do more and longer tours of not only the UK, but Germany and other European countries as well. Maybe one month in Orlando, one month on the road in the US, two months in Europe, then back to Orlando and so on. They need to maximise their product where its hot.

 

[tripleddd]

I think it would be a good idea of a full month once a year over here in the UK. it would certainly give fans more chance to see their favs

 

[owenmandias]

Tna should not relocate to the UK. British Wrestling can't succeed in the UK. The key to wrestling succeeding over this side of the "pond" is Europe. The UK is not large enough, but Europe is and could pull in bigger crowds that you see in "murica"

 

[THTRobtaylor]

They cannot relocate but they could certainly run more shows over here. Perhaps even have a schedule of every 3 months doing a week of tapings.

The biggest "wrong" you have in your post is the work visa... It is not easy to get one here by any stretch especially for sportsmen and entertainers. If a Premier Leauge football club wants to sign someone, they have to fit criteria including playing a significant amount of their nations international games. However many millions ride on the transfer, the UK government can and do say no to people on the basis of "No there are UK players of this level... you don't need them".

If TNA relocated, EVERY talent would be subjected to this who isn't an EU national - so the only guarantees they would have are Magnus, Robbie T. and Doug Williams. Hardly going to sell out shows. Hardy is out due to his convictions and many of the "talent" they have would probably fail as there are "wrestlers" in the UK. TNA would spend millions on hearings and proving talent they have were of the better standard than those here, to require them to permanently relocate here. That's before you have to pay for 30+ talents to have bases in the UK.

British Wrestling doesn't succeed because it is inherently seen as second rate or a copy of the American style. Rounds, Public Warnings were fine in the Big Daddy era but it wouldn't fly today. When a show happens it's based on the WWE and comes across as amateurish which in reality those of us who have been on those shows know... "If only we had this, that the other" we would all say and it's there now, and it still doesn't look right.

We had our Celebrity Wrestling show and it was awful, we just don;t do it well over here anymore. So when WWE or TNA come over, people flock to it to see it done well.

Now I mentioned a schedule that could work for TNA. One option would be a developmental territory/branch and even WWE have considered this. Would it work, possibly but again you need the level of talent there that people MUST see the show weekly. It's easy to sell out a week of dates for both companies as it's rare. WWE got naughty this time and diluted the talent on offer - they suffered dogs abuse for it and sales for the next tour were immediately impacted. We won't take second rate form them, cos we can see that from our own (and again not knocking the hard working wrestling people of the UK...) but anyone who has the chops from the UK is in the US or trying to get there! So for it to work you'd have to have known, recognisable and thus expensive talent based here. WWE could do it tomorrow, they could hire Finlay to run it, Regal to train be the point man and use Wade Barrett as their star and it would probably work flying in talent regularly.

What TNA could do is arrange a more frequent schedule and record TV and their one shot PPV's in Europe every 3 or 6 months. If they lose the Orlando sound stage to the WWE Hall Of Fame it could be an option for them. During that 3 week period they can bring in the talent required on short term visas which are much easier to get, still potentially run shows in Germany and Ireland. Sure crowds would be smaller but the buzz generated would be enough to sustain them. As their TV is taped so far in advance it may create a few issues continuity wise but no more than taking it on the road to begin with. And they don't have that pesky time difference that does for WWE running PPV in the UK.

It's not impossible but highly unlikely this could happen. TNA is probably going under.

The best chance the UK scene has is for my aforementioned WWE system to happen, if we're gonna copy them they may as well be the ones running it here regularly.

 

[Animeboy010]

They cannot relocate but they could certainly run more shows over here. Perhaps even have a schedule of every 3 months doing a week of tapings.

It's not impossible but highly unlikely this could happen. TNA is probably going under.


Your whole comment was amazing to READ! Only thing'' I would respectfully like to add is, I don't think Impact will go out of business any time soon but at some point you look at the current regime and say this isn't working. What do you do after that? You rebuild. It happens with sports teams that have had too many over the age veterans and mediocre results. You tear it down and rebuild. I understand its tougher to do in TNA because there's no offseason to think of a rebuilding plan but something has to change in the company also they can make money again.Reportedly, Spike is still very happy with TNA. As long as that is the case, TNA isn't going anywhere, don't,really listen to the rumors of them being in financial trouble, Dave Meltzer,can't prove it.. Only the Carter Family knows about the company's,financials if they say company is not for Sale that's final

If things go south, they can still move back into the Impact zone in Orlando because "TNA has listened to the fans!" Or however they stated it when they went head to head with WWE.Budget Cuts, are normal in Pro Wrestling, WWE does it all the time on the regular basics by releasing developmental talent. Look at the amount of pyro you would've seen a decade ago opposed to now. Not that many people have pyro anymore.Vince did admit to being out of touch in the mid 90s'' and he went in a different direction, the attitude era. Same thing probably won't happen for TNA, but. My point is Dixie has to clean house and rebuild IMO, even return the company to it's roots...

 

[thebowtiekiller]

wrestling has a good fanbase over here but most people dont care for it.its almost never mentioned in the news,magazines,ect sadly its not considered a big deal here anymore.

i think a factor in tnas popularity in england is due to the fact tna is shown on a free channel while wwe is on sky sports which costs.but anyways tna relocating to england has a tiny chance of revitalizing wrestling here but theres a much bigger chance of them failing miserably.

 

[MCMG]

It just wouldn't work. The fans are so hyped for when they visit the UK because they are getting to see a big wrestling organisation. Bring the entire company over and the appeal is significantly lower.

The USA is a massive country and comparatively, the UK is much smaller. It could allow them work all across the UK and I imagine it would be much cheaper. Money from house shows and TV would be a great source of income. To be honest, they could even go to main-land Europe if they wanted.

The major problem is with the roster. They would be forced into a massive overhaul of talent. Not everyone would be willing to move to the UK or even work a heavy schedule. Even if they had some guys who would be willing,as well as signing some talented European wrestlers; I can't imagine it will be loaded roster.

 

[Rayne]

Are you going to be the guy who tells every performer and employee for TNA that they're going to have to relocate to halfway across the globe to keep their jobs? Or maybe they could just hire entirely new performers willing to uproot themselves from home, family and country, or local performers? Television shows always do so well when they change their cast after the original actors get to be too expensive.

This is what happens when professional wrestling fans discuss business moves. They go "oh, but the crowd at that show was so loud there, this must be a good idea!" You don't have to think about things like restructuring your company to work under a different taxation scheme, you don't have to think about the costs of the move itself, you don't even have to worry about if the move itself would improve TNA's financial opinion. Th

American professional wrestling companies have been trying to break into India for thirty years. It ain't happening, one-off tour performances notwithstanding. Remember Ring Ka King? There's a very good reason they never produced a second season, the ratings took off at first for a novelty product, then lost people quickly over time. It's easy to put on a few great shows in a country and then leave. Staying there entails being entertaining on a regular basis.

If that wasn't a nail in the coffin, this is. When you transfer large sums of money over international borders, the country the money is leaving from usually takes a substantial cut. This percentage varies wildly depending on what kind of trade system is in place between the two, but unless the owners of TNA want to move to England, or keep their cash in country, they'd have to make enough money to cover what they were making in America, plus the transfer percentage, plus enough additional profit to make the move worth it.

So, it's a good idea if you aren't the person who has any money in the game.

 

[LSN80]

Consider the cost of moving from Orlando, Florida, to the Unitd Kingdom. All of the talent, many who went to, or chose TNA because of it's location. It would be astronomical in cost for TNA to move their talent, which simply isn't in the budget. They just came off the road because of cost, and let some higher priced salaries expire or cut them altogether because money is so tight.

I remember reading in Chris Jericho's first book about how when he came to WCW, Eric Bischoff gave him $30,000 to move from Alberta, Canada to Atlanta, Georgia. And that was in 1995, so prices have risen exponentially, no doubt. And Jericho moved from a different country, TNA would be moving overseas. For a company already dealing with a strapped budget, could they seriously afford to pay wrestlers moving and relocation fees? And if they didn't, what wrestlers in TNA would stay? Many call the Orlando area home, and seeing how we've seen a rediculous amount of turn-around already for TNA, both backstage and with the talent. People have said here that most of the wrestlers wouldn't have to relocate....well, what would they do? FLy them overseas every two weeks to do TV tapings? TNA is already taping shows far in advance due to budgeting, and the cost would be much, much higher if they were flying talent to a different country, then flying them back.

Because if they didn't pay those fees for their talent, my best guess is that many of the wrestlers would walk. How would you like to be uprooted from your job and being told 'Go to such and such a country' and live there full-time, because we're going to change our company's location? Or worse, we're going to fly you back and forth between locations so we can tape from there. How many wrestle would agree to such a deal? Worse, they would have to get work Visas, which are much harder to obtain in other countries then they are in the U.S., actually.

(Note: I've heard "What about Jeff Hardy?" My answer is to hell with Jeff Hardy. The guy can't leave the country for work, that is his problem. No way in hell should any company alter the way it conducts business on the account of one individual.)

He took a job with a company that accepted and understood his travel issues. They run the possibility of running into trouble if they just saw 'Screw You', and dump him because of moving. Besides, why would you want to alienate part of your fanbase that still loves Hardy. He may not be as popular as he once was, but he's easily still one of their most well-known superstars.

Bottom line is this. It's a U.S. company, with their headquarters based in the United States. The U.S. is a part of the 'Global Perception' you spoke of, as it's one of the World's biggest in terms of media distribution. Those countries, such as the U.K., have their own programs. People have speculated about what would be the death blow to the company, well, this is it. People always have wild suppositions about what to do to help TNA, well, this isn't this.

A better, more consistent product that spotlights its stars and plays to their strengths is the key to improving their product, not some crazy idea like moving them overseas. They're a fun novelty when they go to the U.K., but their weaknesses, if they didn't change the actual product, would be accentuated quickly. Being in a different country wouldn't change anything.

A better product is what would make a difference.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

No, TNA gets such high viewing figures as it is on a Freeview channel (Challenge) in the UK rather than WWE which is only available on a Sky Sports package, which is expensive. If TNA went onto a Sky only channel, figures would plummet, guaranteed. Also, the tour does well because it's a once a year thing, if they were a UK based company then the attendence figures would be a hell of a lot lower as ithe novelty of seeing guys like Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Sting wore off.

Plus, TNA becoming a UK based company would require their wrestlers to relocate to another continent. Do you really think the likes of Angle, Styles etc would want to move to the UK permanently? Of course not, they would just leave the company and work the US indie scene for as much money and not uproot their families.

I do think TNA should try and capitalise on the UK fanbase more, maybe adding a 2nd tour of the UK during the summer months, or something like that, but no way should they come over here on a permanent basis.

 

[New Hot Fed]

I don't see why not, it's as good an option as any. TNA in the UK feels like the hot territory days when a place would go bunkers for a wrestling promotion and that promotion would put all its money in that territory re-booked shows around that places for weeks and weeks and people would always come back. You go where you have the most passionate fans.

That said, given that TNA is settled in Orlando for the near futur, I could see TNA doing more shows in the UK, maybe an annual big PPV show there. Like maybe Slammiversary.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

No, TNA gets such high viewing figures as it is on a Freeview channel (Challenge) in the UK rather than WWE which is only available on a Sky Sports package, which is expensive. If TNA went onto a Sky only channel, figures would plummet, guaranteed. Also, the tour does well because it's a once a year thing, if they were a UK based company then the attendence figures would be a hell of a lot lower as ithe novelty of seeing guys like Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Sting wore off.

Plus, TNA becoming a UK based company would require their wrestlers to relocate to another continent. Do you really think the likes of Angle, Styles etc would want to move to the UK permanently? Of course not, they would just leave the company and work the US indie scene for as much money and not uproot their families.

I do think TNA should try and capitalise on the UK fanbase more, maybe adding a 2nd tour of the UK during the summer months, or something like that, but no way should they come over here on a permanent basis.

The idea move for TNA would be to try and get ITV involved. It worked for WCW in the 1990's and there is talk of them bringing World Of Sport back as a concept. If TNA does good ratings on Challenge it'd do better ratings on ITV and become quickly accepted.

WWE blew their opportunity with Channel 4 back in the Attitude era and it soured terrestrial TV on them but TNA is different enough and especially with Magnus as a main guy that it could easily end up a Saturday night replacement for X-Factor.

 

[Miro_A12004]

It seems TNA always do good numbers when they go to the UK. I don't know the official attendances in the US but their house shows were getting similar-to-worse than what some of the indies do, and were being held in what looked like school basketball halls. If they're at the Hydro and its sold out then that's 13,000 tickets they've got. They couldn't even charge fans at the Universal studios place. They'd def have the funds to keep whoever they needed if they just did a show a week at the arenas with similar capacity (one in every big city in the UK I think). Or just do similar to the previous method they had, go on tour for a week with 4-5 dates, tape the shows, then show them once a week for a month's worth of telly in the US.

They can also air live on Thursdays on Bravo and tape the shows for Spike and regarding PPVs they can do something like the WWE where a TNA on demand service will broadcast them for a much cheaper fee (say $3.5-4/month, if they get 0.5 million subscribers/month that's $2 million/month which is more than they would ever get on any of their normal PPVs).

Wrestlers can live in London or on the East coast, after all it is a 5 and a half hour flight from NYC/Boston to London which is like going from Boston/NYC to California and back.

What do you think?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

No?

Just because they do well in the UK doesn't mean it's better than the US. Their UK audience is actually a lot less than their US one so there's your answer. TNA also did great in India. Should they move to India now?

And it's not a damn bag, you can't just pick up your toys and move to another fucking continent. TNA is chained in the US primarily by contracts, among other things. They have sponsors, investors and a whole root system of things that can't just be ripped out because the limeys pop for TNA.

What I think they might do one day is kind of branch out into the UK. Set up a wrestling school or a separate promotion under the TNA banner, much like they did in India. This would of course require a lot more money than they have now, but theoretically it's the best thing to do.