Sony Six India (Pure Speculation)

[johnbragg]

The interwebz say that Sony Six (and Challenge UK) are supposed to pay TNA their annual rights fee on January 1, which is either the vast majority or just a huge piece of TNA's revenue. They also say that TNA was supposed to tour India in 2015 and/or in 2016.

Since TNA is in breach of the "tour India" part of the contract, and since there are real questions about whether TNA will be able to deliver 52 weeks of Impact to Sony Six, if I'm Sony Six I pull a power play and switch from an annual payment plan to a monthly payment plan. Otherwise you might see TNA cash the $7.5M check, do the January round of tapings and then the company dissolves under the weight of lawsuits to collect unpaid debts.

 

[dsotm5150]

Unfortunately for TNA, it's a more likely scenario that Sony Six pulls the plug and joins the ever growing list of companies suing them for breach of contract.

 

[TempestH]

If TNA isn't going to tour India, then Sony Six is not obligated to pay them.

 

[johnbragg]

If TNA isn't going to tour India, then Sony Six is not obligated to pay them.

If Sony Six wants to cut TNA loose, I'm pretty sure that TNA's failure to tour India the past two years gives them the right to do that. But they haven't, so I'm guessing they don't want to. That tells me they value Impact on their Sony Six channel.

There are two different things that Sony Six is paying for, TNA tours of India and the TNA TV package (2 hours a week of Impact, one 3-hour PPV-type special a month, probably Xplosion and the Greatest Matches show). My guess is that they still want Impact on Sony Six at the price they signed for last year. But if I were them, I'd be worried about paying at the beginning of the year for 52 episodes of Impact and then TNA shutting down in February or July or whenever.

Dsotm5150: TNA doesn't owe SonySix any money, so I doubt they'd bother to sue, they'd just declare TNA in breach of the contract, not pay TNA and drop Impact from their TV lineup.

 

[johnbragg]

Dsotm5150: TNA doesn't owe SonySix any money, so I doubt they'd bother to sue, they'd just declare TNA in breach of the contract, not pay TNA and drop Impact from their TV lineup.

 

[rmp0012002]

Everyone has known Dixie to not be the best businesswoman but she's falling into being a criminal with the liens and withholding people's checks. I see the Sony Six deal dissolving with no India tour. She has some good connections but she's become a schyster.

 

[dsotm5150]

Dsotm5150: TNA doesn't owe SonySix any money, so I doubt they'd bother to sue, they'd just declare TNA in breach of the contract, not pay TNA and drop Impact from their TV lineup.

Very true, while they don't owe Sony Six any money, TNA did fail to deliver an annual tour as outlined in the contract so they essentially claim money was paid without services rendered and seek reimbursement. Personally I would hope somebody in TNA would have been smart enough to have a television contract with Sony Six for X amount, plus an optional additional X amount if they toured India, but with everything that's coming out this past week or two renaging on a contract apparently is nothing new for Dixie and company.

 

[the_peoples_adam]

SONY has already acquired TEN SPORTS who is the official broadcaster of WWE in India for a deal worth $385 million from ZEE..So SONY is gonna pull the plug soon off TNA as it has now the rights to the majour leagues broadcast rights..

 

[johnbragg]

Very true, while they don't owe Sony Six any money, TNA did fail to deliver an annual tour as outlined in the contract so they essentially claim money was paid without services rendered and seek reimbursement.

IANAL, but I could see a legal claim for damages there. But the point of suing for damages is to get money, paying your lawyers costs money, and TNA doesn't have any money to get.

It's hard to put a dollar value on what TNA's failure to tour India costs Sony Six. But it's unlikely to be more than Sony Six is paying TNA to show Impact. So a court might rule that Sony owes TNA money.

TNA TV is worth something to Sony Six, or they wouldn't have signed a big-money deal with them less than two years ago. So I don't think they're going to pull the plug, but I could definitely see them changing the payment structure so that their money goes to keep Impact on life-support rather than going to pay TNA's debts.

(Take the American Express suit for example. If TNA suddenly has money in the bank, AmEx has incentive to have their lawyers move rapidly to get their hands on some of it before it's gone. If TNA is instead getting a monthly income stream, there's more incentive for AmEx to make a deal with new management on a payment plan and maybe a haircut on the debt.)

 

[GhettoV1]

And there will be no UK tour this year due to TNA taping Impact Wrestling on January 5-10 having 12 weeks of episodes in the can until March 23.

 

[johnbragg]

And there will be no UK tour this year due to TNA taping Impact Wrestling on January 5-10 having 12 weeks of episodes in the can until March 23.

That actually reassures me if I'm Sony Six. 3 months of TV are guaranteed, Anthem is a serious financial backer and seems to have some semblance of a plan. The cycle of begging, borrowing and stealing another half-a-million a month to get through the next set of TV tapings will be over. Even if Anthem uses the entire Sony Six payment to settle outstanding TNA debts, Anthem (or Asper) has enough money to keep the Impact Zone doors open and keep producing TV.

(I'm not saying Anthem has a plan to produce an entertaining product and/or one that I'd watch. I'm just saying that we're approaching the season finale of Ready To Rumble: The Low-Budget Syndicated TV Show. It might even be the series finale.

 

[TDFG]

It's no surprise about TNA not touring the UK, they normally promote that tour a good few months beforehand.

Taping 12 weeks worth of content is going to be an absolute mess, I've heard of saving money but this just shows how bad the finances are.

 

[johnbragg]

It's no surprise about TNA not touring the UK, they normally promote that tour a good few months beforehand.

Taping 12 weeks worth of content is going to be an absolute mess, I've heard of saving money but this just shows how bad the finances are.

I think Anthem is determining just exactly what the minimum cost is to produce 52 2 hour Impact TV shows.

I also think that this means they're done with PPV--if this schedule is accurate and not being over-interpreted, there's no provision for taping ONOs. Which might also mean no live PPVs.

 

[rmp0012002]

TNA needs one owner as there's too many hands involved. If Anthem is going to take over then they need 100% ownership and need to clean house and bring in someone with wrestling experience and a business mind. Dixie has neither. No sense being a financial backer into something that's poorly run and a money grab for other people.

 

[ShinChan]

Taping 12 weeks of content would mean total 24 hours content for the TV. Plus TNA would surely tape a couple of One Night Only episodes.

This schedule would be hectic but as mentioned above, it would assure that TNA won't go anywhere until March 23.

If TNA follows this schedule, It could tape up content until Slammiversary in June easily.

 

[johnbragg]

TNA needs one owner as there's too many hands involved. If Anthem is going to take over then they need 100% ownership and need to clean house and bring in someone with wrestling experience and a business mind. Dixie has neither. No sense being a financial backer into something that's poorly run and a money grab for other people.

Well, the document that Corgan gave the court indicated Anthem owning 85%, Aroluxe owning 10% an Aroluxe employee as CEO with a 3-year contract. PResumably that leaves Dixie Carter with 5%, and my guess is that there's another part of the deal that keeps Dixie Carter on TV, probably with the title of President.

 

[TDFG]

Well, the document that Corgan gave the court indicated Anthem owning 85%, Aroluxe owning 10% an Aroluxe employee as CEO with a 3-year contract. PResumably that leaves Dixie Carter with 5%, and my guess is that there's another part of the deal that keeps Dixie Carter on TV, probably with the title of President.

Reports for some time have said that Dixie Carter has wanted to stay on in on screen capacity in Impact so it wouldn't surprise me if she is attempting to hold on to some part of the company.

We'll know by Monday (hopefully) what TNA's future is.

 

[rmp0012002]

Reports for some time have said that Dixie Carter has wanted to stay on in on screen capacity in Impact so it wouldn't surprise me if she is attempting to hold on to some part of the company.

We'll know by Monday (hopefully) what TNA's future is.

Dixie having a tv role and creative input seems to have always been a sticking point with people wanting to buy the company. Aroluxe and Dixie have no financial stake in the company other than taking other people's money so with Anthem owning the majority and the same cancers running the business I don't see a change in the poor product they put out. Corgan tried to right the ship so hopefully he gets all the money he is deserved.

 

[GhettoV1]

Or at best Anthem can sell off everything TNA to WWE as soon as the debts are paid if Dixie wins.