"You want Less WWE PPV's, You got it ... Oh, but you're going to have to pay for it!"

[Ambiguous Turd]

Well, it appears that WWE is hearing its customers say that there are entirely too many WWE PPV's on the schedule, so it appears that they are doing something about it.

But ... there's a catch ...

A WWE memo sent out to various Pay-Per-View providers reveals that World Wrestling Entertainment will be eliminating one of its June PPV events in 2010, bringing the annual total down to 13. While this does seem like a step in the right direction, WWE will be making up for that lost PPV revenue by increasing the suggested retail price of its other PPV events (excluding WrestleMania), by $5.00, to $44.95. According to the memo, this will be the first price increase for non-WrestleMania events since 2006. The suggested retail price for WrestleMania will remain $54.95.

So essentially what that means is that those who have been purchasing the PPV's regularly or semi-regularly will now see your PPV prices for all the other monthly shows raised by an additional $5 a month to $45. So by the time you are done paying taxes and other fees to your Cable provider, you will be paying well over $50 a show.

How angry are WWE PPV customers going to be at this latest turn of events? Big deal, or no Big Deal?

Here apparently, is a copy of the actual memo that got sent out:

As part of our ongoing efforts to maximize the WWE pay-per-view business, we have made several changes to our branding strategy in 2009. A key priority was to rename and retheme several of our events to better describe those pay-per-views and to build interest for our fans through new “hooks” and stronger themes.

In contemplating the future of the pay-per-view business, we would like to make you aware of two important changes we are making to our pay-per-view strategy in 2010.

1. WWE will increase the suggested retail price of its pay-per-view events (excluding WrestleMania), by $5.00, to $44.95. This change in the SRP shall become effective commencing with Royal Rumble, which will be held on January 31, 2010. This will be the first price increase for non-WrestleMania events since 2006. Please note that the SRP for WrestleMania will remain $54.95.

2. WWE is eliminating one of our June pay-per-view events (actually Judgment Day, although the July PPV is still unknown) therefore reducing the number of pay-per-view events in 2010 to 13 events. Please find the preliminary 2010 WWE pay-per-view event schedule below and attached.

The strategy of reducing our pay-per-view calendar to one event per month (except for October) achieves both creative and business objectives for WWE. It allows us to better develop compelling storylines and arcs in order to motivate our fans to purchase more pay-per-views. This change also allows for increased marketing windows for each event, during which we can more effectively communicate our sales message.

My opinion? People will still pay. A couple people will become frustrated and order less shows. A few may get angry enough to stop paying Vince for a majority of the shows, except Mania. But Vince's base will still pay. They simply can not say "No" to Vince McMahon or WWE.

However, in the very least, I may have to request some assistance from the "WWE Shareholders" out there. We are probably going to need your PR expertise to put the positive PR "customer-friendly" spin on this situation, here.

 

[King Patrick Star]

So the WWE is cutting out one of its June PPVs. That would make 13 PPVs a year. What I find interesting about this is the month that has two WWE PPVs happens to be in the same month as TNA’s Flagship PPV, Bound For Glory. Coincidence??

 

[Iamawesome]

The price hike doesn't bother me too much! I have found sites I can watch all PPV's for free!
This is just another reason for me to stop paying vince and his douchebaggery!

I'll buy TNA PPV's.... But only for spiteful reasons! To help TNA Beat WWE!
TNA is the underdog for sure..... But Rey mysterio made a career out of being the underdog!

 

[619Edge619]

Are you F***ing serious? I thought the previous price was too high, why rise it even more? I know most of the fans will still buy PPV's, but if they should drop the price by $10 for 3 PPV's and I bet they will still get the money they get now and they could brag that they got so many PPV buys. Now that is good business!

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I honestly cant seeing it make much of a huge difference. There might be a bit more streaming going on, but truly the extra five dollars wont matter to those who go out and spend 40$ on a show anyway. Now if TNA can right the ship, and make their PPVs and booking into them worth while...well, then it might be a problem....

 

[CFH]

I don't care for the price, I don't buy ppv's, I sometimes watch them online. I'm glad they're eliminating a ppv, but I feel they should still get rid of one more and have 12 ppv's for 12 months. It will really help their fueds, and I think with these fueds being built up better with a lack of ppv's, the revenue lost by eliminating a ppv will probably be regained in higher buys for the other ppv's because with more time put into each match more poeple may take an interest in the event more.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

What I'd like to know is this. Is purchasing PPV's simply a learned (and expected) habit out of WWE? In other words, is purchasing WWE PPV's simply a behavior done out of habit by WWE fans:

"Well, it's PPV time, and I always get the WWE PPV's. So I have to order it. Now where is that $50?"


Or is it truly done each and every month with an excitement mentality being:

"I am really looking forward to this PPV, and $50 is well worth it for what I get in return."


I applaud WWE for taking a step in the right direction by cutting back on PPV's. This has to happen for the good of the product. And hopefully, they will go down to 12 soon enough.

But, I just can't fathom paying $50 a month anymore for the same stuff you see month after month after month. If they could find some original matches that I haven't seen before, then maybe. But $50 for the same repetitive matches between the same superstars, that are simply rotated:

John Cena vs Triple H
John Cena vs Randy Orton
Triple H vs Randy Orton
John Cena vs Edge
Undertaker vs Big Show

etc.

It is always those same damn matches.

I just don't see it worth the price tag anymore. Where is the line drawn, out of curiosity? What is the threshold for what people are willing to pay for the PPV's and where is the line drawn? Or, is there a line from the fans in what they are willing to pay?

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Well sid, id say thats a very tough question to answer by just the information available to us on this site. Personally, im one of the biggest WWE marks on the site, and relish getting PPVs, but I still evaluate wether I feel like I want to buy one, and have skipped them a few times in the last few years. I hardly feel like something like spending 50$ on a TV program is a "habit" for very many if any homes in America right now.

However. If the programming is TRULY marketed to children, your dead the fuck on. In that case, the paying party isnt concerned with the actual card, becuase its just "getting the wrestling show for the kid"....hm, ya think?

Honestly though, I really dont feel thats the case with the majority of the veiwership.

 

[Smackdown!]

Well I'm a bit skeptical on thisone !st I'm glad wwe took out one ppv out of june. 2nd I'm not that happy that they decided to push the ppv prices up 5 bucks to make up for the missed ppv. But It was a great bussiness decision on the wwe's part. Since they push the ppv prices up They should do the same thing with there matches at ppv's as well.

 

[wrestlemaniac]

guess it's down to 2 wwe ppvs for me lol, it's not like I've been ordering anyways, the wwe product as a whole just lacks enjoyment for me now

 

[PatternsInTheIvy]

Now that is pure greed. $45 for B-ppv's like breaking point and hell in a cell etc
im sure that this is gonna aggrivate a lot of people, i mean cmon
in britain a wwe show is like £30 to go and see live...
dvds of the ppvs are about £15
so why would you shovel out $45 when you can get the dvd a month later for much much less.

 

[robbo316]

I just order the big four RR, WM, SS, SS

If I'm right, those are the only four we actually pay for in the UK. The rest are on Sky Sports, and PPV prices are about £15.00/$25.00. Methinks we get a good deal in the UK!!

 

[Henry Hill]

Well, the PPVs i bought from WWE dwindled this year and it looks like it'll be worse next year. In 08 I ordered the Royal Rumble, No Way Out, WrestleMania, Backlash, Night Of Champions, Summerslam and Survivor Series. So far in '09, I've only gotten Royal Rumble, WM25, and Summerslam, I'm still not sold on Survivor Series, and it looks like 2010 i won't be getting any WWE PPV. I understand the need for WWE to make money, but until the product becomes more compelling, I can't justify $50 for a ppv. Looks like UFC/TNA will be getting my money from here on out.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

In the words of Scott Evil: RIPOFF!!!!!

I already became disenfranchised with WWE's pricing system. I honestly think $40 was ten dollars more expensive than what it needs to be. Seems like pricing yourself out of buys, but hey, after all, I'm not a businessman. I only got three PPVs in the last eighteen months (two were The Bash, one Hell in a Cell). Otherwise, I pay $15 at Wal-Mart for an event I want to see. Here's a clue: On WWE PPV DVDs, the show is in HD, Dolby Digital sound, and if you think it sucks, you can always exchange it some place. (Or you can just rent it if your local video rental stores have it.)

This ensures that I will NOT be getting The Royal Rumble next year, unless I pull together some friends who want to chip in to see it. To hell with WWE PPVs anyway. It's getting to be for the birds. I'll take $15 a month later over $50 on my cable bill any day of the week.

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I think its a shame that it was bragging rights that was pulled off, sure it wasn't great but it was better than hell in a cell!

I reckon it will drop to 12 but they havent decided what to drop, they might be waiting a bit longer to judge the reaction to this drop first!

 

[Sivsyboi]

If I'm right, those are the only four we actually pay for in the UK. The rest are on Sky Sports, and PPV prices are about £15.00/$25.00. Methinks we get a good deal in the UK!!

I remember paying for Backlash once...we made up for it by having 5 free PPVs in a row

As long as the price doesn't go up in England, I'll stick to recording the free ones and buying in the big two (WM and RR...sometimes Summerslam)

 

[Y2J420RKO420]

WWE IS STUPID first let me say they are going to see a huge decrease in ppv buys because wwe is mainly a kids show now i remember i had to beg and beg for wm 17 when i was young. so what does the E think that parents will fork out 45 dollars a month to keep there kids entertained for 3 hours HELL NO and us who work and pay for it our selfs are going to wait till the next morning to download it or find a stream online for free cause i sure as hell will not pay for this. this is the dumbest idea maybe if they cut it down to 10 ppvs a year it would make sense to raise the price a little but one ppv cut will not make the product any better. this is a big mistake cause alot of the fans will see the new price tag and freak out and just not buy them anymore. wwe is really dumb the onyl way they will really get bigger buys is if the go down to the same price as tna cause then most of us would buy 8 to 10 ppvs a year now were all down to 4 a year in 08 i paid for every ppv 09 i paid for rr nwo wm25 and thats it mind you i personally did not pay for 08's my mom did but she just thought the cable bill went up haha

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

As far as I'm concerned with this move, TNA has a real opportunity to come out and portray Vince and WWE as being "Greedy bastards by taking advantage of their fans and their money."

And they really need to push this Point of View with the wrestling audience and put Vince on the Hot Seat.

I really think that will give TNA some good PR and make them come across as the more "fan friendly" of the two companies, that looks out for the fans.

If I was part of TNA Management, I would be having a field-day with this news, and developing a strategy to fire back on WWE with this piece of news.

 

[Sean Valjean]

This doesn't bother me at all. Mainly because I only order Wrestlemania and the occasional Royal Rumble, and everything else I watch online. Also, my parents work for Comcast so we get get a pretty nice discount on ppv's anyway. For the fans who regularly buy ppv's, I can't see how this would stop them; if they're comfortable spending 40 bucks every three weeks, I doubt an extra 5 is going to stop them, though I could (and probably am) wrong.

I'm glad that they're dropping the number of ppv's and I hope it goes back to 12. This will only help the product since it gives them more time to develop storylines for the shows. Now they just need to drop some of these ppv gimmicks and names (HIAC, TLC) and they'd be set.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

Well the WWE finally has done it. I see this as a pure business deal-pure and simple. The company generates millions on PPV's and cutting some of the profit margins just to pacify it's audience is not good business. Yes, there were and still are too many PPV's, but if that's the main bread winner of the company, they are not going to lose dollar one in an effort to save the dwindling PPV buys.

This being said, I've had it. I am old enough to sadly admit that I was one of the few older fans that even bought tickets to see Wrestlemania 1 that was shown on a big screen in the venue I was at. I have been buying not every PPV since, but more or less every other. But lately, I have to agree with some of you that why spend the money when you can: a. buy the DVD at your local Walmart within the month b. find sites that show it for free c. see the highlights at the beginning of every WWE show d. pay to see the same damn matches every PPV just in a different style of match and e. see the rematch either on the next PPV or the next show (Smackdown, Raw, or ECW). I've been really feeling like I've been ripped off this past year for PPV's and the audience agrees for the buy rates have been down. Now to increase the price for the same old stale product...I've got one word for you..."TNA"!!!!

 

[SinCityBlitz]

Welcome to the real world guys. Companies raise prices all the time. If TNA could they would raise their prices as well but can't.

Let your wallets speak for you if it pisses you off that much. The last PPV I ordered and payed for myself was Wrestlemania XX.

But that said $5 is not really that much considering what you get. If you like the product that is. You pay a lot more to go see it live. Don't bother telling me the product sucks because that is what YOU think and not what the people who buy the PPV's say. I happen to agree with you but once again I'm not paying for the PPV's.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Welcome to the real world guys. Companies raise prices all the time. If TNA could they would raise their prices as well but can't.

Let your wallets speak for you if it pisses you off that much. The last PPV I ordered and payed for myself was Wrestlemania XX.

And I couldn't agree more with you. If people get angry over it, they HAVE GOT TO STOP PAYING. It's that simple. But people still do pay, even when they aren't that impressed with the product as a whole. I see the complaints on here, and yet people still talk about ordering the show. It's absolutely mind-boggling.

That is why I seriously question whether people order simply out of habit as opposed to out of desire. It's much like a "zombie-like" mentality, if you really think about it.

But that said $5 is not really that much considering what you get. If you like the product that is. You pay a lot more to go see it live. Don't bother telling me the product sucks because that is what YOU think and not what the people who buy the PPV's say. I happen to agree with you but once again I'm not paying for the PPV's.

$5 doesn't sound like a lot. It's going to be $60 more a year, for whomever purchases all the rest of the monthly PPV's though ... which will likely make up for a good portion of that lost revenue.

But one thing I have still not heard from people in this thread who still purchase the shows, and plan on still doing so even with the price hike ... is a question I asked earlier.

"What exactly is your threshold or do you have one, for how much you are willing to spend on the monthly PPV's, before enough is enough? What is the Magic Number?"

 

[shafe_41]

This isn't going to matter at all. Let's say you already order 10 of the PPVs each year. You're pissing away $400 bucks a year on around 30 hrs of PPV television. Let's say you order 10 PPVs in 2010, you're pissing away $450 a year. $50 over a year is hardly breaking the bank if you're already spending the original $400. If $5 dollars a month is the breaking point between you ordered a PPV and not ordering a PPV, then your financial situation probably shouldn't let you order the PPVs at all. This extra $5 would mean for Vince to not make any more money from PPV buys, 1 out of every 9 that order the PPVs would have to stop. Vince will make the same amount of $$$ from 200,000 buys in 2009, as he will with 180,000 in 2010. Or something like that. This isn't going to matter at all.

 

[attitude_hero]

i think there should be 11 pay per views taking away the july payperview so summerslam can be promoted more heavily just like wrestlemania where they take away march. wwe only has 4 payperviews that i care for...up util bragging rights all the ppvs that werent the big 4 were just feud extenders or feud starting events for a bigger show.

 

[Ziirox]

Until they produce PPVs that are better than the two hour shows they put on every week, I'm not paying a penny out of pocket for any of it. $40 was too for the past years they have been charging for the same thing month in and month out. If they dropped the price, cut the amount of PPVs and actually focused on making a better product, the PPVs would definitely be worth getting. The product is just getting stale and is deteriorating. Build stars, make better storylines and then you can price gouge... By the company raising prices, they are simply asking fans to turn to TNA.