iMPACT! Outside of Orlando?

[wrestlemaniac]

According to Dave Meltzer, there is serious talk of having TNA tape more episodes of Impact outside of the Orlando area. The idea is that most of the tapings would still take place in Orlando but an occasional Impact would be held in another city's small arena.

It's believed that the crowds are getting burned out and the company needs to start building fan bases in new markets. The fear about taping outside of Orlando is drawing strong crowds and having an audience that is as familiar with the product as the Orlando fans are.

got this from nodq.com. now although it seems the majority of impacts will be in orlando...a handful of them won't be. I can see why TNA is worried about the crowd thing on outside cities...in my opinion they only have themselves to blame for that. If tna were to come back to houston for an impact taping I'm sure there'd be a good turnout as there has been for their house shows and 1 ppv here. What do y'all think about this and their concern?

 

[MachoMadness1988]

If this is true, it would be a step in the right direction if they did hold a handful of iMPACTs outside of the iMPACT! zone. I understand the concern, but they are going to have to take iMPACT on the road eventually. I see no better time then the present to get the ball rolling and test the water. I'd rather see them start out doing it this way, then just full blown taking it on the road full time.

I personally am getting sick of seeing every iMPACT! and almost every PPV in the iMPACT zone, and I think alot of TNA fans would agree.

It would be very refreshing to see iMPACT filmed somewhere else. They drew some decent sized crowds in NY, why not start there? Hammerstein Ballroom?

 

[duckbutter]

This is just my opinion, and there are probably others that know more than I do about this, but I think they should focus on markets that they have been in before, places like Nashville, St. Louis, Philadelphia, etc, and then start slowly trickling into other markets.

I also think, and I'm pretty sure everyone agrees, that they need to get the heck out of Orlando as much as possible in order to build a decent fan base.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

This is a fear they need to take the risk on failing over. There is no substitute for this, no matter how deep their rank is among smarks and/or the internet crowd.

If they're not prepared to begin taping iMPACT! outside of Orlando, they need to make a very strong effort to tape all of their PPV's elsewhere at the very least, because as financially palatable as filming at the iMPACT! Zone is, like the article notes, it hinders their ability to truly branch out.

Personally, I'm crossing my fingers for striking a deal with Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

This NEEDS to Happen and its a risk but its a Necessary risk and step to take for the growth of TNA. I think that being in a different place with real fans will make iMPACT seem better and more exciting. Just like IDR said I would LOVE to see them tape in the Hammerstein Ballroom me being from New York I would go Very Often.

 

[marklouis]

If it were up to me, I'd start out with moving the PPVs only outside Orlando. Find the cities where they've had their highest gates & start there. Also, TNA seems to do very well in the UK, & WWE hasn't had a PPV there in a very long time, so that would be an option. Also consider Canada, though I don't know if TNA has any traction there. But start slow, with the PPVs only, because those are generally the strongest cards. If they generate good ticket sales, then you move iMPACT! to different cities.

 

[DexVendetta88]

In the modern world of professional wrestling, if you want a wrestling company to make it to a mainstream level you WILL have to risk leaving your flagship territory in order to build possible fanbases outside your territory. The territorial system only works when a wrestling organization is starting out, but once they're ready to make the next step promoting outside of your territory has to be done without question. This will truly test if a wrestling company will be a success or bust; more of a "baptism by fire" per se. I feel that TNA should do this now rather than later because with all the exposure they're getting now, it would be pretty dumb not to take advantage of it.

 

[RendarSelin]

TNA needs to test the market with iMPACT! and get it tested soon. Whether they like it or not, they are the number 2 company. They need to be smart. Start in smaller arenas, advertise your stars and give wrestling fans a cheaper alternative to WWE.

TNA iMPACT! is getting a little stale with the same arena, same crowds, same everything. And I definitely agree the best place to test the market would be New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom. Maybe start out small with one iMPACT! a month taped outside Orlando, then move it up or down depending on the success.

 

[wrestlemaniac]

one impact a month in a different city I can see working. Can't imagine how much shit would be edited out though. Depending who is wrestling I can still see dueling chants going on. That's how it was her at a house show. I think the 1 match that had more dueling chants than the others was desmond wolfe vs samoa joe

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I think TNA should take this chance. I know TNA goes outside of the Impact Zone for their pay per views sometimes, but their flagship show is always in the same place. If TNA goes outside of Orlando, then we could see how other crowds react to their wrestlers. Will Jeff Hardy get consistent heel reactions? Will some of the face wrestlers get positive reactions from the different crowds? The Impact Zone can be very smarky, and I really want to see how other crowds will react to TNA's wrestlers. If this happens, TNA is taking a chance, but I would like to see this happen because TNA should see how their roster is received in different places. It seems as if TNA wants to take a shot at growing, and this is a good way to about it.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I think if TNA really wants to make actual money on Fans paying to get in for Impact and PPVs they should start Touring outside of Orlando. Im sure they can do the Smaller Arenas in different Cities in the US and maybe Canada. TNA doing their Impacts and PPVs in the Impact Zone month after month is just OLD and Stale already.

 

[klunderbunker]

I remember reading somewhere where it was said that it's really hard to figure out how well you're doing in TNA as long as you're int he Impact Zone because you get cheered for almost anything. That wasn't by some fanboy. It was said by AJ Styles, and he's right.

Look at John Cena for example. Almost everywhere he goes he gets a mixed reaction. What does that tell you? It tells me that he gets a reaction from people everywhere he goes. It tells me he's connected with the audience and that he can get them to be into a show, which is exactly the point in being a wrestler: to get the audience to care about what you're doing.

You can't get a feel for that in the Impact Zone. The fans there will cheer almost anything and rarely boo anybody. That's a real problem for TNA, as other than about 1000 people, you can't get a feel at all for how well someone is doing. Hardy may be cheered slightly in the Impact Zone, but does that mean he's liked nationwide? We don't know either way, and that's not good. Also, it could be distracting to the audience at home. I've been taken out of the shows by the crowd before. Cheering is fine, but we don't need a full song and dance routine for a basic dropkick.

That being said, it depends on a few things. Number one is would this work financially? If they're going to lose a ton of money and be working in front of 100 people then of course they shouldn't go on the road. However, if they have evidence that they can draw a decent crowd (however many people it takes to make it even break even) then yeah I think they should go with this.

Like IDR said, even putting PPVs on the road would help. Seeing the same place time after time is boring beyond belief after awhile and the fans being as smarky as they are there isn't doing them any favors. It's a good step, but again only if it is looked at heavily first.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

If TNA wants to ever be considered a meaningful wrestling company, they have to branch out in the United States. Intentionally, they're fine. They go to Europe, Australia, and some of their stars work in Japan. In America, they're a regional territory with a TV deal. Think about that for a second. Anyone remember the old Memphis Wrestling shows with Jerry Lawler, The Studd Stable, etc? They managed to make some good money because they branched out. Now, how far they branched out is another thing. I think TNA would be fine as a regional touring show by staying south of the Mason/Dixon line. Notice they have NO fans north of Kentucky.

Go where the money's at.

 

[shattered dreams]

Not sure why people think TNA isn't going to attract a smarky audience on the road, if anything it would be worse IMO. I'd love to see it but I cannot help but wonder if it is worth it. It would cost a lot to keep the production values at the same level they are now. When TNA does house shows they go bare bones. You cannot do that for tv without it showing. You do get some free publicity from traveling but you also have to put advertising money into just getting people to the show. Is advertising locally just to keep from getting embarrassed a worthy use of an already limited advertising budget? It is something I think everyone wants to see from TNA but I wonder if it will really pay dividends, especially if it takes away from other aspects of the product. Whatever the case when TNA decides it is worth it I will be excited because it is a big step.

 

[Jeremy5144]

I agree I think if TNA wants to show that they are an alternative such as the AFL was then they need to step out of the IMPACT ZONE for their flagship show. For right now TNA looks minor leagues every time they decide to stay another year in the IMPACT ZONE.

 

[ABMorales787]

Wow. This must've taken Meltzer about 10 seconds to cook up as he was peeing. I can't be the only one to notice the obviousness written on the report. It's a no-brainer TNA needs to branch out of the Impact Zone. It's a no-brainer that means more costs. And it's also a no-brainer that the crowds will be different. But unless they wear earplugs during house shows, it's stupid to assume TNA would have zero clue to how crowds in other cities would react.

TNA took the gamble of facing Monday Night Raw head to head. Why not have the gall to take TNA Impact on the road? It doesn't have to be live, just not in Orlando. Whatever they need extra for production should be covered by ticket sales. TNA produces house shows. Use the sales statistics and measure crowd reactions. It's a no-brainer. At the end they still have the Impact Zone should anything go wrong.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Yeah, I'm pretty much with everyone else on this. The simple fact of the matter is that TNA is going to have to take this risk at some point or another and it's getting to the point where they're not going to be able to keep putting it off. TNA has been waiting and hoping that their television audience will grow, thus making tapings outside of the Impact Zone generally less risky, but it's something of a pipe dream at this point. It's just not going to happen in the forseeable future. The idea of occassionally taping an episode of iMPACT! in smaller venues might bring in larger crowds than normal and, possibly, some increase in viewership just due to the novelty of watching iMPACT! outside of Orlando.

However, if TNA does indeed go through with it, they don't need to go ape shit if a few of these shows turn out to be more profitable for them than they hope. TNA scored the biggest audience in their history Jan 4, 2010 and plans were immediately made to go head to head with WWE and look how that turned out. If these tapings do bring in X amount of dollars along with Y amount of fans and Z numbers of viewers at home, then that doesn't automatically mean that TNA can start continuously touring and taping their show in a different venue each week like WWE does. Jumping the gun because of a brief run of success could be disasterous for TNA from a financial standpoint.

 

[Rayne]

Anecdote. I'm going somewhere with this, I promise.

There's a band which plays in my area called The Wandas. Musically, they're pretty damned talented. They play in all of the local clubs, seemingly a different one every week, and while I'm not in NYC or LA, playing all of those places isn't a small feat. However, almost no one shows up to their concerts, despite having a fairly broad fan base.

Why is this? Because they're in the city, playing, every week. There's nothing special about going to see The Wandas. If you miss them at one place this week, you can catch the same show across town the next, and if you miss that, they're playing somewhere else the week following.

This is The Hulk+Eric Show's problem. They've played out Orlando. The crowd in the Impact Zone is dead; the only time they seem to wake up is for Robbie E. and Smark Chant Time. Listen to the crowd during entrances for Impact tonight. You'll notice that for almost all of them- even some of the 'top' stars, that the crowd is dead when they come to the ring. You can almost hear Dixie Carter crying in back it's so quiet when Matt Morgan comes out. Compare that to the WWE. They have their lowlights- Drew McIntyre heat is so quiet that sound technicians check their cables to make sure the crowd mic is still working. But in general, the music cues the crowd reaction for the wrestler. (We have had the music debate already, which is something else The Hulk+Eric Show needs to work on.) But the fans aren't reacting, because they are a mix of theme park attendees seeing their first wrestling show, and smarks who are there every week and have seen pretty much all of what The Hulk+Eric Show has to offer.

Getting out into the real world will help The Hulk+Eric Show tremendously. They are going to fail at it at first, but a necessary step in building a professional wrestling company is exposure. It's not just enough to appear on television; your fans want to be a part of the event, which means creating an event for them to be a part of.

 

[andymcg]

I’m sure Paul Heyman said it best, "you cannot achieve success without the risk of failure." TNA wont grow if they don’t move places, you can almost spot the same fans every week at the TNA taping, its seen as an attraction, people are not passionate about the TNA product.

I’m willing to bet there’s a lot of people in Orlando like, "hey dude, TNA is taping today, want to go for something to do?" ..... TNA needs to find fans, not smarks or tourists.

Start off by what they were doing with Monday nights, do 1 show a month in a different city/state, make it the first show of every month, then they can build the rest of there shows around this and the PPV, meaning they have a big show at the start of the month, and a PPV at the end .... almost gives a 2 PPV feel to the shows ?

Its simple logic really, don’t go booking huge arenas, find various arenas with smaller crowd attendances so there tapings in the arenas look filled, hell if they can afford it , book these 1 show a month live from various venues ?

At the end of the day its simple, book 1 show a month live in different arenas, build your Orlando shows around this and the PPV, and make sure u take smaller attendance arenas to make them appear full .... then build on this, if it takes off move to 2 shows, and build over the years.

This is truley the next logical step TNA HAVE to take, otherwise they are going to float around in 1 - 1.3 rateings forever and go nowere. They also need to market these shows so much better, but thats a whole other topic .......

 

[WolfNyte]

Taking the TNA out of the IZ is kinda dangerous for them and they have been doing shows here and there to test the so called waters. Recently they were up here in hartford CT and tickets were relatively cheap. Sadly maybe 400 people came to the show and it was heavily advertized in CT.

The thing about the IZ is that it is FREE people can be walking around the park and say hey wanna go see some wrestling? They then just walk in and grab a seat.

The sad thing is repeaditly when TNA has to charge for seats they rarely break 500 people willing to pay 10 to 20 bucks for a seat. That is not a good trend especially when its a couple thousand seat place.

I so dont see them oficially hitting the road where they have to charge for the event anytime soon as it keeps following this trend. When you travel to a place and make a gate of maybe 3 - 6 thousand bucks you arent even covering the travel expenses of the ring and equipement. Let alone the other incidental costs food for the crew and employees.

This is why ECW kept to the Northeast they could rent a few u-hauls to transport the stuff under 3 hours travel time and the stars would set up the ring and barracades and simple set. Mikey Whipwreck, Devon, Bubba, balls Mahoney and Dreamer and Taz all would set it up themselves then tear it down after the show.

They would at the furthest travel to Pougkeepsie NY or when they came to my hometown Danbury CT for their final PPV ever...and that was an awsome PPV...they actually FILLED the O'Niel center at WestConn.

But I digress unless they start getting a larger fan base and get their stars to help out in set up, tear down and transporting then they cannot leave the IZ. Its a sad and true thing.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I think that the biggest henderance that TNA would have with moving the tapings outside of the Impact Zone is that they already have the crowd that they get trained very well. The crowd in Orlando that comes to the zone already knows that they are pretaping a show that might not be on for two weeks. They understand that before they come in and react accordingly. This isn't Smackdown, where someone might only wait a few days to see themselves on TV. People these days don't understand the concept of deferred gratification and might be turned off by that fact alone, no matter where they go. And TNA on tv isn't the same as TNA Live, as they usually work much smaller venues and have time for very personal fan interaction. So unless they had something set up to be a permanent venue, then they might not draw like they need to to pull off a similar TV product.

And with that said, TNA needs to move their product out of the Impact Zone every now and then. For many of the reasons that I stated above, such as having their fans trained to deal with tapings possibly not airing for a couple of weeks. Now I'm sure that the low overhead would have to be sacrificed, but TNA needs a fresher look every now and then without me seeing the same exact fans standing in the audience who were there the taping before. Yeah, it looks like they have faithful followers who can follow their storylines, but then it creates room for people to call them "homers" or "smarks" every time someone points out how TNA draws at Universal. Sometimes you have to take a chance in order to make that small bit of progress that it will take to finally "get everyone off of their dicks" about not liking the product.