Will the WWE Network help bring back PPVs overseas?

[babinko]

Once the WWE Network reaches their potential goal of 1 million subscribers in the US and once it hits International Markets, we might see a decline of these events being bought on PPV. If anyone read the story earlier this week, they are trying to get rid of the term PPV and call it "Special Event". Whats great about the conception of the WWE Network is you don't even need to watch the PPV Live. If you are an hour or two behind, you can start right from the beginning in its original format.

We hear so many fans voice their opinions, especially those from the UK, that they want a PPV. I think they do deserve a big four ppv, even a Wrestlemania. We see so many individuals travel across the world just to come to the US to watch WM and come to the Raw after, which ends up being the best crowds of the year. With the time difference, WWE would lose money on PPV buys domestically in the US if they were held overseas.

Now with the WWE Network launched, the domestic buyrate really wouldn't matter, would it? If they have a set amount of domestic WWE Network subscribers, then their original buyrates for PPV's that they usually get wouldn't matter. So the US buyrate wouldn't be affected. An Event held in the UK that starts at 8pm would start at Noon in the US. But with the Network, the viewer has the option to watch it whenever they want.

So once the WWE Network gets more subscribers, at least in the US, do you think the WWE will opt to have "Special Events" overseas?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Hey, never thought about that. I mean I'll say no, because I don't think WWE will want to hold a PPV in the UK or elsewhere, but they should.

Hold your lowest drawing PPV of the year, likely that one in October we all forget about, and hold it in the UK. People don't buy it anyway so have it somewhere it'll feel unique. WWE can hold it in an arena which is larger than they would the usual show and make us some lost pennies on merch. If promoted right they could quite easily sell out one of the many football statiums knocking about this country. 50 odd thousand at St. James's Park for a 'B' show? Count me in.

 

[babinko]

I'll admit, when the UK hosts Raw or even past PPVs like Rebellion, I'll just end up reading the spoilers and never even bother watching. Now with the WWE Network, I'm finding myself watching shows like Main Event and even NXT without checking spoilers because I can do it on my own time. WWE already has your $10 a month for the PPV, so I don't see them losing money in the US Market. Like you even said, a B-show ppv could be overseas, maybe to test the market and see what it would be like, but eventually that could lead into getting a bigger ppv.

I sort of have this theory that WWE tries to stay away from having live broadcasts outside the US because of how the fans are. They might cheer a heel or boo a face. Thats why I think we haven't seen a PPV in Canada since Unforgiven 2006!

Overall, we gotta wait a good 2 years until the Network is actually booming with subscribers, but it should give the UK fans and any fans overseas some hope! As an American watching fan, I would love to see PPVs other places because of how awesome the crowds are. Great crowds makes a great show.

 

[Jaffa]

You could easily hold a PPV in Sydney Australia on the at midday on the first Monday in October which is a public holiday. The bonus with this would be that you would also be able to air it live at the same time as it usually does in America. If the UFC is willing to host fight nights and ppvs using a similar idea here the WWE should be able to as well.

 

[AJ1981]

I think the WWE Network does change things. The main issue with holding a PPV outside the US has been the time difference and the problems that causes with buyrates. With US cable companies dropping WWE PPVs that removes that problem from the equation and with the sheer good value of the Network even casual fans may be tempted to subscribe just because they get all the PPVs for a sixth of the price they were paying before. Like others have said the watch what you want, when you went nature of the Network make events outside the US viable and WWE would surely make healthy profits in terms of live gates and merchandising as more people would attend purely because its not just a house show or TV taping. Also there were reports on here and other sites that WWE was planning on taping and airing overseas house shows on the WWE Network which would be good start and allow them to gauge the market.

I sort of have this theory that WWE tries to stay away from having live broadcasts outside the US because of how the fans are. They might cheer a heel or boo a face. Thats why I think we haven't seen a PPV in Canada since Unforgiven 2006!

QUOTE]

No the last PPV in Canada was Breaking Point 2009 in Montreal

 

[wwenumber2fan]

In my opinion WWE should at least try once to host a PPV overseas, I don't really buy into the argument that time difference is an issue, because if a PPV is in England and starts at 8PM, thats 3PM ET and most people dont even work Sundays

 

[tak161]

It's always been the time difference. They want shows to air in the USA at 8PM EST time, so holding an event outside of the U.S. prevents that from happening. The U.S. is always going to be their focal point on things like this, and I don't really see that changing, with or without the network.

The only thing I see happening is that they may do a one off show live overseas, then have it on demand here in the US.

 

[JJ15776]

I mentioned this in the comments section on WZ not that long ago.

If their PPVs/Special Events ever get to the point where everybody or almost everybody watching does so on the Network, then having a PPV/Special Event overseas becomes a possibility.

Will it ever get to that point? Time will tell. Will they get a PPV/Special Event if it does? Who knows. The time difference is still a problem...if the show at 8 in the UK, that's 3pm ET and noon PT. Are they really going to expect their west coast fans watch a show live at noon? Obviously, they can watch it later, but I'm sure many fans will still complain.

One thing to remember is that WWE is big on social media participation, and people won't be able to do that if they're not watching it live. If they plan on watching it later, they'll have to avoid Twitter to avoid spoilers...and they won't be able to participate in the conversations when they do watch. This will be a consideration for WWE, and may be a deal breaker.

Also, somebody mentioned doing it in October...won't work. The NFL plays on Sundays in October. It's one thing to go up against one game on Sunday night, but almost every team is playing in the middle of the afternoon, when a UK PPV/Special Event would be on. They would never go up against that. So it'd have to be a PPV/Special Event before September. There's always those two no name PPVs surrounded by Extreme Rules, MITB, and SummerSlam in May/June/July, they could definitely have one of those in the UK. The only problem there is the weather is so nice outside, that's the time if year when people are outside most on Sunday afternoons in the US. If Wade Barrett ever works his way into the main event and they decide far enough in advance to have him win the Royal Rumble, that could be in the UK. That would be awesome.

 

[Sabutage]

I'd really love them to have a ppv event outside u.s, although I did read somewhere the reason they didnt is they thought it would effect the standard wwe show tour internationaly , like make it not so prestigous or for example if people knew there was going to be a u.k ppv later on and wanted to save up for that instead.

However I think this could be remedied with a once a year international ppv. You can market it as wwe going global, they'd get a ton of headlines, be able to use it as a did you know statistic and im sure they can come up with a cheesy event title like WWE Global Warning lol. Plus with so many locations from asia, to europe, even africa at some point, you wouldnt run the risk of over saturating one particular market.

John cena has talked about wwe catering to international fan base more, once the network rolls out worldwide I think wwe will definitely start considering ideas like this becsuse it's a no brainer to get more revenue and build up the brand outside u.s.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I seriously hope so.

But for the issue of timezones, I can't ever imagine it would be one of the bigger name PPVs, and I don't mind that one bit. Speaking as a Brit who would love a PPV over here, I don't need something as big as the Royal Rumble or Summerslam before I'm happy. Give us TLC, Battleground or something, and we'll eat it up. I'm sure American fans would be fine with having at least one overseas PPV a year. Anymore than that and it possibly may frustrate some, and I understand that. But then the issue of what country gets that overseas PPV comes in.

 

[Soulblazed]

I think that this could definitely be a great idea if 2 PPVs per year were held overseas in different countries. As others have already said, the timezone problem is negated with the WWE Network, hence I could see 2 or 3 years from now where WWE announces that Elimination Chamber PPV is going to be in Tokyo, Japan while their Night Of Champions PPV could be held in say, either Belfast or Moscow. There's also the option of going to Capetown, South Africa and holding a PPV in Capetown Stadium, which has a capacity of 69,070.

 

[ncb619]

You could easily hold a PPV in Sydney Australia on the at midday on the first Monday in October which is a public holiday. The bonus with this would be that you would also be able to air it live at the same time as it usually does in America. If the UFC is willing to host fight nights and ppvs using a similar idea here the WWE should be able to as well.

I find this topic quite interesting, especially since recently, WWE posted on Facebook asking what city in Australia would be best suited to hosting WrestleMania..

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Interesting idea. Makes sense too. I don't know about a big four, but some "special event" for sure. I don't like reading spoilers anyways as it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. I'd experiment on one and actually promote that idea that it's a foreign PPV. Maybe have that try to anchor your next 6 months. Look at when a huge chunk of your memberships could expire and then promote it the month they expire.