This Is The Most Expensive Mistake WWE Ever Made

The Network launch costs were astronomical, and the modest return has not approached that which WWE would have otherwise generated.

WrestleMania in particular has lost WWE significant revenue over the last decade. In 2019, revenues generated by the Network fell from $46.8 million to $41.6 million the prior year. Every pay-per-view past and present generated that sum, remember; as a comparison, in 2012, original pay-per-view revenues under the old traditional model generated $83.6 million. WWE is doing less than half of what it did eight years ago, and six years is a very robust measurement of how the Network has and will continue to perform. WWE drastically over-estimated its initial projected subscriber count, offered several more free months than you suspect was the original intention, and, before the world changed, had all but given up on the new model.

Prior to a lockdown that had changed everything, WWE had publicly declared to shareholders its intentions to transition away from DTC and onto an OTT platform that would pay WWE a guaranteed rights fee for its premium shows.

None of this affects the bottom line. WWE, for several years yet, is disaster-proof. WWE is incredibly strong financially - any projected comparative loss of revenue is offset by the gargantuan TV rights fees paid to WWE by the USA Network and latterly FOX - but the Network era has infected everything. It's fortunate that the television industry evolved as it has; otherwise, the move would have to be considered a disaster. On strict financial terms, it's a mere misfire that will not impact WWE turning record profits in 2020.

Looking beyond that, the Network has spawned a culture of unforgivable, institutional laziness from which there is no escape, and mutual "It's only a tenner" apathy.

It has totally driven the product to the point of almost perfect symmetry: if it looks cheap, and it feels cheap...