I am so glad you aren't running any major corporations or sports teams - because you would always be content with second place! What a shame!
On the getting high thing- start. If you're just getting into the whole marijuana thing, it'll keep you from typing coherently and posting stuff like this.
Where do we begin the absurdity? Let's begin with your "3-5 years" comment. While I'm sure this sounds like a significantly long time frame to you, and any longer would kill America, 3-5 years is typically the time frame it takes for a new, successfully run business to make up the debts they incur from opening and turn over consistent profit. Then you remember we're talking about professional wrestling, where successfully run businesses are the exception, rather than the rule. Over the past twenty-five years there has been exactly one professional wrestling company which has been consistently profitable. (Fair point- ROH, if they keep up their current run, could soon be considered the second company.)
Then, we look at the disparity between companies. GFW has yet to hold their first show. The WWE is a massive corporate behemoth, with tendrils in film and reality TV. They've expanded beyond 'professional wrestling' to become a company which specializes in the creation and promotion of ready-made role models (God help us all). In their first year of operation, GFW will make less in revenue than the WWE will make in profit. Taking on the "King of the Mountain" (wrong promotion) is a laudable long-term goal. Looking to take on the WWE before you open up would be like buying a few hammers and telling people that you're going to be bigger than Home Depot or Lowe's. People would think you're an idiot for suggesting something like that, and would s****** at your idea of what good business sense is.
Or hey- we could look at very recent history. TNA, before the bloom came off their rose and became everyone's favorite promotion to LOL over, spent seven years building from a small promotion with an equally small TV deal to a name which fans could finally distinguish from "Tits N' Ass". They decide that they're going to take on the WWE, invest a whole mess of money into talent and production- and then got completely slaughtered in a head to head matchup, despite offering what was actually pretty decent programming. (This was before Garrett Bischoff and Brooke Hogan. At this point, they were still sincerely trying.) TNA is
still recovering from that decision, and the long-term odds suggest that they never will. Mind you, TNA was around for seven years before challenging the throne; 3 to 5 years in, they were still operating on their first TV deal with Fox Sports (when Fox Sports was a MUCH, MUCH smaller channel than it is today.)
But let's just say "fuck it", and pretend we're GFW and we're going to take on the WWE right away, or hell, even after 3-5 years. You'll need at least two things- 1) a television deal with a major cable network, and 2) oodles and oodles of cash to spend on talent and the production team capable of the production with which professional wrestling fans have come to expect from the WWE.
In answer to #1, the landscape on television for professional wrestling right now is
bleak. One of the stations which has been consistently airing professional wrestling for the past decade has just decided to reformat their programming, and professional wrestling won't be a part of it going forwards. As the cable landscape contracts as people realize there isn't anything good on TV that you can't get elsewhere for cheaper, the amount of channels will likewise contract, and so will the available hours of programming. Even the WWE took the shaft in their last TV deal renegotiation. *If* GFW gets a TV deal, they won't be starting on a network even approaching the viewership of USA; they'll start out somewhere on channel 672.
For #2- where does the money come from? Forget about the idea of talking to a bank for a commercial loan. Pretend for one second that you're a bank executive whose job may well hinge on the success or failure of the business you're loaning to, then look at the track record of professional wrestling companies. So the conventional route is straight out. The professional wrestling fan might say "but I read on the front page that Toby Keith", and I'll stop you there. In order to purchase all of the equipment, the arena rentals, storage, and probably the cheapest item on the list, the talent, we're talking about a high-7 or low-8 figure expense in GFW's first year of operation. (This number's probably a tiny bit high compared to what they'll actually spend, but we're talking about a fantasy universe in which they decide to be competing against the WWE in 3-5 years, meaning we have to also assume that #1 isn't a factor.) This is just the first year mind you- there is absolutely
no expectation that you'll be getting that money back anytime soon, and the long-term odds suggest that you probably won't ever see that money again. If you are the kind of person to wager $10 million on those kinds of odds, or know anyone who is,
please send me a private message. My company's at the point where I could do some pretty awesome things with venture capital, but convincing people to invest in the professional frisbee business is about as hard as it is to convince them to invest in the professional wrestling business. And I'd be asking for a lot less.
Most people with that kind of cash have that kind of cash because they aren't making silly decisions like pissing away $10 million dollars on professional wrestling. Or they're Floyd Mayweather. Stranger shit has happened, but I wouldn't count on shit that strange happening.
So before anyone talks about taking on the WWE, maybe GFW should worry about actually putting on a show first.
