Updated WWE PPV Buys Since Network Started

The WWE is entering cost-cutting mode as their second quarter earnings were released today, and with those earnings came news of the company's pay-per-view buys since the WWE Network was introduced. For a company that had planned on totally cannibalizing their pay-per-view market outside of the Network, the WWE had decent numbers. WrestleMania 30 drew 690,000 buys, which is down from last year's 1,039,000. When WWE Network subscriptions are factored in, over 1.35 million people had access to the event. Extreme Rules managed 108,000 buys, down from the 231,000 it attracted last year. Despite this, with the WWE Network numbers included 700,000 people could have watched the program, although the WWE didn't release a viewer count of any kind. Payback took a big hit and landed at 67,000 buys, down from the 186,000 WWE pulled in for the 2013 event. Finally, Money in the Bank still drew a respectable 122,000 buys, although that number is also down from the 199,000 buys that Money in the Bank 2013 sold. With the WWE's current model, they're likely to lose PPV revenue on shows such as WrestleMania in comparison to what they earned in year's past, but will increase earnings on lower level shows such as Extreme Rules and Payback. As revealed during the WWE stockholder conference call, the company's PPV and Network revenue has actually seen a small boost over recent years.