Joey Styles looks at VR's Chances for Success

[TNABaddboi 0]

On November 7, TNA will air their first live, monthly, 3 hour, $30 pay-per-view after abandoning the failed live, weekly, 2 hour, $10 pay-per-views.

 

Considering Tuesday’s TV taping in Orlando (which will air on Fox Sports Net today in most markets at 3PM), the card will be as follows:

 

Ladder Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title

Champion, Jeff Jarrett vs. Challenger, Jeff Hardy

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in opposite corners

 

NWA World Tag Team Championship Match

Champion, Team Canada vs. Challengers, 3 Live Kru

 

TNA X Division Championship Match

Champion, Petey Williams vs. Challenger, AJ Styles

 

20 Superstar International X Division Gauntlet Match Participants announced thus far: Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Jerrelle Clark, Shark Boy, Chad Collyer, Amazing Red, Sonjay Dutt, Michael Shane and Frankie Kazarian

 

The Return of "In The Pit With Piper" with Roddy Piper...guest to be announced (you can bet it is going to be a former WCW or WWE Superstar or this segment will fizzle fast)

 

Triple Threat Match

Monte Brown vs. Raven vs. Abyss

 

 

With this lineup, it is apparent that TNA is not looking to sway WWE pay-per-view buyers to purchase their show. Instead are trying to what WWE does, and rely on their own weekly television viewers to make Victory Road a success.

 

Let us look at the best that TNA can hope for with this strategy:

 

TNA IMPACT scores an average weekly 0.4 cable rating, which is absolutely amazing considering the awful timeslot of Fridays at 3PM/Tuesdays at 2PM in New York.

 

With 75 million cable homes in America, a 0.4 cable rating represents 300,000 homes watching TNA IMPACT every week (75,000,000 x .004).

 

For an average pay-per-view, WWE can convert roughly 10% of their weekly TV homes into pay-per-view buyers, which is absolutely astounding by any direct marketing standards. Direct mail returns a 1% or 2% return and infomercials (which is what pro wrestling TV programming is), do not even return 1%. Using traditional direct marketing as the standard, a 10% return is miraculous.

 

If TNA can convert 10% of their 300,000 weekly TV homes to pay-per-view buyers ( a tough proposition without DirecTV, which accounts for 25% of all pay-per-view buys), that would be 30,000 buys. Incidentally, the word I get from industry sources is that TNA’s weekly $10 pay-per-views were selling about 30,000 per month when the weekly concept was abandoned so this would be a win for TNA if for no other reason than 30,000 buys at $30 each is better than 30,000 buys at $10 each.

 

30,000 buys x $30 x 40% = $360,000. 40% is what the programmer (wrestling company) gets to keep after the local cable companies (Comcast, Charter, Cablevision, etc.) take 50% and the pay-per-view distributor (in Demand, TVN) takes 10%. DirecTV acts as the pay-per-view distributor and the local distributor and takes 60%, which is what the WWE vs. DirecTV stalemate was about. WWE wanted 50% and pulled their programming off DirecTV. WWE pay-per-rates plummeted and DirecTV subscriptions kept growing. WWE went back to DirecTV with their tail between their legs and asked for their previous 40% deal. DirecTV agreed but at that point could have played hardball and made them take less

 

Is a $360,000 gross a win for TNA? That I cannot answer because unlike WWE, they are not a public company. I do know that TNA pays $30,000 per week or $130,000 monthly to be on Fox Sports Net ($30,000 x 4.3 = $130,000)

 

$360,000 - $130,000 = $230,000.

 

Does $230,000 per month cover the cost of salaries, production, transportation, rent, utilities, etc? I do not know and nobody at TNA is going to answer that question either. Panda Energy, which saved TNA , did not believe in the weekly pay-per-view concept but does believe in the traditional and time-tested monthly pay-per-view concept. My guess is after three months, we will all know.

 

Credit: 1wrestling.com

[Guest whitemilesdavis]

I think to put Victory Road at 30,000 buys is being incredibly generous. I couldn't imagine them getting anywhere near that.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I think to put Victory Road at 30,000 buys is being incredibly generous. I couldn't imagine them getting anywhere near that.

I'm curious to see how much extra promotion this PPV is going to supposedly get from FSN. I watch it all the time, and I rarely even see commercials for Impact.................

[Guest whitemilesdavis]

I've never seen one other than on Impact. If they devote the 2 Best Sports Show (whatever) slots that have been rumored, that would be a big step. Enough to get them to 30,000 buys? I doubt it, but a posititve nonetheless.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I've never seen one other than on Impact. If they devote the 2 Best Sports Show (whatever) slots that have been rumored, that would be a big step. Enough to get them to 30,000 buys? I doubt it, but a posititve nonetheless.

I also would admit that would be a positive thing if they ACTUALLY do the Best Damn thing for promotion of the PPV. But when I read that in the observer, it sounded like they would LIKE to do that, but it was still up in the air. Plus, I would really be surprised if the PPV did get a lot of promotion on the channel............unless TNA paid extra for it or something.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

The card is disgusting. Why would any self-respecting wrestling fan pay money to see a Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett main event? Are you kidding? Not only is that disgusting, its downright insulting. That match wouldn't jerk the curtain at a backlast PPV. Thats a Heat-worthy match before a PPV. Oh my, what a gimmick, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in opposing corners. Remember when all of thsoe WCW fans were clammering to see them fight instead of fighting together? Yea...me too.

 

AJ Styles not in the main event? Raven in a meaningless three way? Jeff Jarrett is worse than Triple H, has less talent, and is even more delusional than him. This company has gone down the shitta fast. Just in time for it to debut on Canadian TV!!

[Guest Donners]

I don't know about others, but I don't buy a 3-hour show based on a 20-minute main event.

[Guest whitemilesdavis]

Why would any self-respecting wrestling fan pay money to see a Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett main event?

 

I won't.

 

I don't know about others, but I don't buy a 3-hour show based on a 20-minute main event.

 

It would be OK if the rest of the card was stacked. It's not.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

Why would any self-respecting wrestling fan pay money to see a Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett main event?

 

I won't.

 

read the fine print WMD

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Why would any self-respecting wrestling fan pay money to see a Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett main event?

 

I won't.

 

read the fine print WMD

Ownage...........................

[Guest whitemilesdavis]

I wouldn't quite call that ownage. I've got plenty of self-respect. It's getting anyone else on this frigging planet to respect me that's becoming a problem.