Preliminary PPV Buys For SummerSlam

[Jack-Hammer]

This past Tuesday, the WWE released their monthly business figures. Those figures include preliminary ppv buys for that given month. According to the figures for this year's SummerSlam, headlined by Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar, the ppv drew 350,000 buys.

These preliminary numbers are an increase of nearly 20% over last year's SummerSlam, headlined by a rushed CM Punk vs. John Cena rematch, and are dead even with the 2010 show, headlined by Team WWE vs. The Nexus.

While Lesnar's participation hasn't added mind boggling numbers to either the Extreme Rules or SummerSlam ppvs, the numbers have still been strong and significantly higher than the shows of last year.

 

[Mustang Sally]

While Lesnar's participation hasn't added mind boggling numbers to either the Extreme Rules or SummerSlam ppvs, the numbers have still been strong and significantly higher than the shows of last year.

WWE will have some interesting decisions to make about Brock in the next half-year, won't they? A 20% increase over the previous Summerslam is a significant number, although I don't know how much of it they'll assign to Brock.

The thing is, what about Wrestlemania 29? That's the true test of Brock's impact and the normal course of operations dictates they have him signed for the next year (presuming he wants to re-up) before the event, since his contract expires right after it. Yet, how can they measure the Brock Effect until the final numbers are tallied? I wouldn't want to be the one to handle that negotiation.

 

[rge2010]

Brock earns around $5m a year with WWE I believe. That figure will pay for itself with ease. Extreme Rules increased by around 35,000 buys at $45 a pop. That equates to around $1.6m off the back of one PPV. Summerslam is up and that is around £2.4m so you have already made back $4m just from having Brock headline the card.

That is not including merchandise sales, increased TV ratings or extra sponsorship opportunities. Wrestlemania 29 still to consider as well. Although that will be harder to gage because Rock will also be on the card who is also a massive draw.

Money well spent and I am sure WWE will recognise this.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I would say Brock's Return has been a pretty good investment for WWE with the Buyrates up for Extreme Rules and Summerslam. I think they should bring him in for Survivor Series and they might see an increase in buys there as well. By WM 29 and the possible number of Matches he could have that Buyrate may skyrocket too.

 

[SD619]

According to new data released by WWE, the 2012 SummerSlam pay-per-view was a huge success with 350,000 worldwide pay-per-view buys. This breaks down to 264,000 North American buys but just 86,000 international. This is the most successful SummerSlam since 2008.

75% of the buys coming from North America indicates that Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H was the reason. Lesnar's main drawing power from his UFC days was big in the US and Canada but little international.

In comparison, the 2011 SummerSlam pay-per-view did 180,000 North American buys and 131,000 international buys for a total of 311,000.

A little more details.

The fact that this show drew twice as many in North America is really impressive. Brock vs HHH does deserve quite a bit of praise for this, but the whole card was good. The show may have been of a lesser quality that the last year's, but that has not really been a constraint for the number of PPV buys.

I am actually surprised to see that the international buys have seen such a significant(34%) drop. Anyone with an explanation?

 

[XXJJ]

Why the huge international dropoff? Does Brock not appeal to oversees fans?

But yeah Lesnar is a draw and has helped the buyrates. Like you said it hasn't been massive numbers but he has added some buys to ER and SS.

Here are the last few Summerslam buyrates..

SS 2011- 311,000 buys (Cena vs Punk w/ HHH as ref, Orton vs Christian)
SS 2010- 350,000 buys (Team Cena vs Nexus)
SS 2009- 369,000 buys (Orton vs Cena, Punk vs Hardy)