10 Major Challenges Facing WWE In 2019
10. The Live Event Slump
WWE's Q3 2018 financial report dropped in late October, revealing a worrying slump in the promotion's live event business. Long considered 'a barometer as to how well we're doing' by Vince McMahon, it revealed a 15% decline in house show revenue compared to the same period the previous year, coupled with attendance drops of 8.2% domestically and 17.6% abroad.
McMahon claimed to know what the problem was, and said he'd "re-imagine" live events "very, very shortly," promising a "pretty good turnaround in short order." We're still waiting three months later.
The decline's reasons are legion, with WWE's relative lack of stars and legitimate individual draws a major contributor. The idea that the company, not the wrestlers, are the new draw is a lame excuse for a broken star-making machine. Fixing it must be considered a priority if they're to reverse the negative trends.
Rows of empty seats are embarrassing for a company that loves its imagine as the indomitable wrestling market leader, and while the rest of WWE's balance sheet looks stellar, this significant blip clearly irks the Chairman. To fix it, he must identify and eliminate the myriad of solvable problems dampening his audience's enthusiasm.