10 Ways WWE Can Maintain Their Current Business Success

7. Raise The Price Of The WWE Network

As a fan, it's never fun to sit around and discuss about why things are too cheap. It's scary to admit that we love something and it really should cost more and we'd still buy them. But the reality is that WWE fans have demonstrated strong price inelasticity historically, especially when it comes to their support. For instance, in almost every example of raising the PPV price, WWE ended up with more revenue (and profit) as the decrease in PPV buys was more than offset by the improved per buy profitability. The one notable exception to this was when the PPV price broke the $40 price ceiling. WWE raised PPV prices (essentially so they wouldn't look "second-rate" compared to UFC) during the height of American unemployment. PPV buys dropped again, as some fans stopped buying PPVs and either counted on piracy or mounting hours of television to support their wrestling habit. The WWE Network only costs $9.99/month and they've already begun circulating some surveys looking at whether international fans would subscribe at a higher price such as $12/month. In fact, if you really break down who was buying PPVs, the 110,000 customers who bought every month or 290,000 who would buy the big three (Royal Rumble/Summer Slam/Wrestlemania) bought spent a lot more than $12/month already on WWE. Those fans will grumble and groan, but they'll recognize the worth of the WWE Network and stick around. If the Network cost 20% more, they'd need 17% less customers to break-even. It's certainly a risky proportion for the casual fans, but when you're dealing with a niche commodity like Wrestling, you can't consider Netflix or Hulu as your true competition. You're priced against the other subscription sports network programming, and WWE offers quite a nice opportunity under that lens.