Ever since WWE became a publicly traded company, the question has been when and how would the global sports-entertainment conglomerate spread their presence into the emerging economies. Countries like Brazil, China and India have always had a huge following for WWE, but very little was done in the way of building on the popularity. Until recently, it always seemed like the biggest pro wrestling promotion was content in being viewed as a primarily North American entity happy on putting out a product keeping the local tastes in mind. But with WWE pretty much lacking any major competition in the Americas, the brains behind the corporate machine seem to be viewing the expansion of their international presence over the past few years as the next logical step, which is how it should be, given the cross-border appeal of the product by its very nature. Of all the countries where WWE has an opportunity to establish a strong base with the fans, India is a goldmine given the long history of WWE programming being a constant staple within most households there. The Indian populace is a heavy media-consumer and entertainment is a major revenue part in the whole TV programming pie. The higher powers seem to have recognised this opportunity as they have opened an office in Mumbai, India. But along with regular programming, the brand needs to do various things that can help them attain the kind of brand-recognition that they aim for, in the worlds second most populated country which is also the home for the biggest youth contingent in the world - just the kind of target audience the brand hopes to win over. Here, we look at some major things that WWE could do to bolster their presence with the Indian audience.
Sports journalist, writer, poet, quiz master and an engineer. I have been writing about contact sports for years, and have interviewed UFC fighters such as Miesha Tate, Cung Le and John Hathaway. I had also covered TUF - China finale and UFC Fight Night - Macau.
