Was Bringing the TV Tapings to Ottawa a Good Idea?

[Psykohurricane55]

If you believe everything that's been reported about those tapings, I fell like this was a really bad idea to do the tapings outside of Orlando right now. Tickets sales for those tapings was so low that they had to offer free tickets to the sellout crowd they had at bound for glory and now it'seems been reported that they are hiring kids and their families to fill out the arena.

If that's true, then I feel that like always they didn't think things true before deciding to stay in Ottawa for the tapings. The reason the ppv sold out was because it was a big event and fans we'really willing to travel to show up to the event, in fact, I was there on Sunday and at less half the arena was fans from outside ottaw which means that you lose half that audience because they won't stay to Ottawa for the week.

So you need to find a way to convince local fans to come to those tapings and their not enough fans in Ottawa to fill that place, at less in Orlando, they could count on the fact that tourists will show up to the fill the place,

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Considering there are reports that Impact Wrestling is hiring actors to fill the audience, yes it was a bad idea.

I feel bad for TNA or Impact Wrestling it had promise in the early and mid 2000's. And I really want to see some sort of documentary on what went wrong. There are numerous theories on why (Dixie lying to the Network, and Hogan/Bishcoff) but I would like to know more. Perhaps it will server as a cautionary tale on running a Wrestling Promotion.

As for the city itself I never been to Ottawa but my understanding is that Ottawa, being the capital, isn't really suited for events and whatnot. Due to the city being mostly composed of Government institutions and the lack of corporate sponsorship. Even in the NHL it's difficult for the Ottawa Senators to sell out the their Arena. I believe they didn't have a sell out when they made it to the Eastern conference finals last season and Canada is a hockey crazed country. So yeah Ottawa itself might now have been the best city to host any taping or PPV event.

 

[johnbragg]

Considering there are reports that Impact Wrestling is hiring actors to fill the audience, yes it was a bad idea.

I feel bad for TNA or Impact Wrestling it had promise in the early and mid 2000's. And I really want to see some sort of documentary on what went wrong. There are numerous theories on why (Dixie lying to the Network, and Hogan/Bishcoff) but I would like to know more.

What went wrong is that the JArretts and Carters always thought there was room for a new WCW or Ric Flair NWA, when there was, at best, room for a new ECW, an upstart, niche, alternative promotion. WWE was the Budweiser in the analogy, and bought out and bought out Coors and Miller. Instead of figuring out how to be profitable as Sam Adams, they lost money hand over fist trying to make Stroh's happen. And now they've been surpassed by Shiner (ROH) and Guinness (NJPW, the prestige foreign import) and Rolling Rock (NXT), and they don't really have a financial edge anymore over local coalitions of craft brewers.

Perhaps it will server as a cautionary tale on running a Wrestling Promotion.

Rule 1: Don't. Everyone but Vince McMahon loses their shirt and goes out of business.
Rule 2: If you must ignore Rule 1, make sure you're blowing through someone else's money.
Rule 3: If you must ignore Rule 1 and 2, try not to blow through your own family's money.

 

[ShinChan]

I wonder if it could've helped if Bound For Glory was in Toronto instead of Ottawa.

Regardless, PPV might have been sold out but hiring actors to play the audience in the tapings tells that it was actually a bad decision. I keep wondering how much this company goes through and still survives. Like always.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Bad idea? No. Poorly executed? Yes.

The problem, as always, is that this is being done in a marathon setting. They're taping for what, six days? BFG was a one-night thing. Anyone traveling could do so, maybe spend the night in a hotel, and then go home the next day. Holding tapings every night for the next week, in effect, means you have to have the support of the local market and/or surrounding markets, which they probably don't. This is why Orlando wasn't as big of an issue. They were at Universal Studios, so there was always the potential to market free tickets to a wrestling show at park-goers. The same isn't true now. The fact they were giving away tickets isn't even shocking. But having to pay to entice anyone to fill seats is.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I wonder if it could've helped if Bound For Glory was in Toronto instead of Ottawa.

Regardless, PPV might have been sold out but hiring actors to play the audience in the tapings tells that it was actually a bad decision. I keep wondering how much this company goes through and still survives. Like always.

Maybe. Given the proximity, you could probably have brought over a few more American fans from Buffalo. Braxton Sutter is from there, as are a few other Impact stars, and they do have some local connections.

 

[johnbragg]

I'm actually thinking that Ottawa is not as big a problem as weeknights.

This is a niche product. Not just pro wrestling, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, but "alternative", off-brand/hipster, bingo-hall wrestling. For a show with guys you've probably never heard of, aside from two or three guys you've seen under different names on WWE TV.

And you want people to come out on weeknights when they have to work in the morning. After the people who are interested in the product have already come out to see the show-of-the-year on Sunday night.

At Universal Studios, you could kind of get away with this, because you have tnes of thousands of vacationers walking by, so you could hope for a few hundred to do something once in a lifetime, on a whim. At least it's air conditioned--that's the main feature of half the rides and attractions in Orlando.

That's not the situation in Canada, where you have to leave your warm, comfy house and break your routine and drive (or maybe public transit I don't know) downtown (or wherever) to the arena, er, pavilion.

I think weeknights are a bigger culprit than Ottawa vs Toronto or Montreal or Chicago.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Yeah, there could be something there, too. I'd imagine the turnout for filming on a Friday or Saturday night is probably significantly greater than that of a Tuesday or Wednesday, especially when you consider the fact these are often upward of four and a half hours long per night. That's a lot to take in during a work week.

 

[GhettoV1]

Maybe future tapings should be scheduled on a weekend (if Impact Wrestling makes it into 2018).

 

[It's Damn Real!]

That's a logistical nightmare. The reason they do these large blocks is that it allows them to pay their crew and their talent for, in effect, one long event held over N number of days. They then chop that up to produce however many weeks of content it will ultimately produce. Often upwards of eight weeks worth of shows. By limiting themselves to weekends (or, really, just two nights), they'd be forced to re-book venues (which could also be a problem, in and of itself, assuming one weekend or two may not be available), which means having to pay crew and talent for each of those weekends.

 

[sikkbones]

If they had done a smaller tour like Toronto, Hamilton, London Windsor they would have gotten a better crowd and not had to pay people.

Impact has been at copps(first Ontario) in Hamilton and Ricoh in Toronto with decent size crowds before.

Even Niagara and Windsor would have gotten a decent crowd.

It also does not help TNA is on very weird hours on cable here.

Thru bell its only on game TV and fight... So many nay not have it.

 

[Navi]

I only found out that it was being taped in Ottawa because Kapu told me here on the forum. There was no advertising here in Toronto that I could see at all. Ottawa is a beautiful city and well worth the visit, but driving 4 hours there and back for this show was a no go for me.

If they had held it somewhere nearer Toronto, even Hamilton, you would have gotten the fans from the Golden Triangle area. That would include anyone from Toronto, Buffalo even Detroit. Not many from Detroit or Buffalo would have made the trip to Ottawa I'm afraid.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I only found out that it was being taped in Ottawa because Kapu told me here on the forum. There was no advertising here in Toronto that I could see at all. Ottawa is a beautiful city and well worth the visit, but driving 4 hours there and back for this show was a no go for me.

If they had held it somewhere nearer Toronto, even Hamilton, you would have gotten the fans from the Golden Triangle area. That would include anyone from Toronto, Buffalo even Detroit. Not many from Detroit or Buffalo would have made the trip to Ottawa I'm afraid.

For Bound for glory, they had at less half the crowd that was from outside ottawa. I actually went because Ottawa is a 2 hour drive from Montreal so it was easy for me to go on a sunday, i just took a day off from work and i'm guessing most of those they came from outside Ottawa that night we're probably from the surrounding area like me. But let's face it, they offered me free tickets for the whole weeks of tapings and i opted not to go because i felt driving back there again for the tapings wasn't worth it.

I fell like this is the problem they might get when they decide to do more tapings in other cities in Canada. If theirs a PPV, they will attract fans from outside the city but the tapings will probably be more of a local crowd because nobody wants to travel during the week especially a big distance to go see a tv tapings.

 

[TDFG]

Giving away tickets is one thing, hiring/paying actors etc. to attend is another and shows just how much work Impact/Anthem have ahead if they want this company to stay afloat as this is surely the last throw of the dice.

The guys at Anthem should know what they need to do to get audience attendance, some promotion and free tickets to weekend tapings for schools, businesses and that sort is much better than hiring actors, in fact it would cut an unnecessary expenditure.

For the company to survive and even grow, if they are going to stay in Canada then they are going to need a couple of Canadian talents on the roster that are decent and the fans can get behind them. Petey Williams immediately stands out as one and title run of some sort would be a good step.

They appear to be cutting the roster at the moment but if can keep the likes of LAX, Lashley, ECIII etc. then all is not lost.

As mentioned the money coming from Sony India will cover a lot of costs, The Global Wrestling Network will bring through a trickle of money for the company alongside merchandise.

 

[New Hot Fed]

Considering there are reports that Impact Wrestling is hiring actors to fill the audience, yes it was a bad idea.

I feel bad for TNA or Impact Wrestling it had promise in the early and mid 2000's. And I really want to see some sort of documentary on what went wrong. There are numerous theories on why (Dixie lying to the Network, and Hogan/Bishcoff) but I would like to know more. Perhaps it will server as a cautionary tale on running a Wrestling Promotion.

As for the city itself I never been to Ottawa but my understanding is that Ottawa, being the capital, isn't really suited for events and whatnot. Due to the city being mostly composed of Government institutions and the lack of corporate sponsorship. Even in the NHL it's difficult for the Ottawa Senators to sell out the their Arena. I believe they didn't have a sell out when they made it to the Eastern conference finals last season and Canada is a hockey crazed country. So yeah Ottawa itself might now have been the best city to host any taping or PPV event.

Exactly right. Ottawa is not a sport-crazy town to begin with. It's a slow, polite town and the fans are not entusiastic that much. It's the last place I would want to start a wrestling territory in.

You want to go to a wrestling-nut place with excited fans, go to Toronto or Montreal. Even Winnipeg.