5. Network Blues
Hope you enjoyed getting WrestleMania for (relative) free, because that could all change by next year. The initial WWE Network subscription numbers were released, and they were a bit underwhelming. Now, 667,000 people buying the WWE network in just a few short weeks sounds like a great number, but it's actually over 300,000 less subscriptions than the network needs to be profitable. That's not counting upcoming international expansion, they were looking for one million subs for the domestic market. The company pulled out the big guns and offered WrestleMania as part of the deal for new subscribers. The past couple years that show has done over one millions buys. That's over $60 for every single show ordered. While cable companies do get their cut, that's a lot of money that WWE didn't take in for the event. Because WWE hasn't reached their goal yet, there's already talk that they will raise the price on the network, or that a couple of the marquee pay-per-views won't be included in the future. That stinks. Basically, if that happens, then what we're getting right now is as good as it's ever going to get. Part of the low subscription problem may be that WWE gives us six hours of prime-time TV for free every single week. You need to be one of the most hardcore of fans to need more than that. With WrestleMania hype out of the way, it will be increasingly difficult for WWE to get fans to sign up for the network. Good luck on trying to get new sign-ons based off of shows like Extreme Rules or Payback. Please don't make me pay for Payback Vince! For more in-depth analysis on the network, check out
Chris Harrington's great article. No matter how you look at the numbers, though, it appears it won't be the colossal success that some envisioned it to be.