04/14/06

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It happens to be true even for professional wrestling in 2006. I hope this column doesn’t get boring, because I’d like to touch on some basic business aspects of this crazy sport/business. Hopefully, that will put into perspective the audience of then and now.

Wrestling today definitely has more visibility within the media than ever before. That might lead many to feel there are more fans than ever before. But is that true? Let’s use the St. Louis experience as a reference point.

In 1960, 1970 and even 1980, because St. Louis had season reservations, Sam Muchnick knew that he had a base, core audience of approximately 4000 fans. Those folks were loyal followers and could be counted on. They, in fact, were why "Wild Bill" Longson, Sam’s partner and a great former world champion himself, used to say that the wrestlers had to work even harder if there was a small crowd at Kiel Auditorium. The point was definitely pleasing that loyal base audience.

At first glance, that would seem small potatoes compared to the audience in 2006. Or is it? Let’s conservatively say that Chicago had a base of 5000, Tampa had a core of 2000, New York had a base of 8000, Minneapolis 4000, Amarillo 1000, Los Angeles 4000, and on and on. Remember that wrestling ran probably six nights of the week in thirty different territories and every one of those towns had a solid group of fans.

Add it all up, if that’s possible, for the entire United States.

Now, in 2006, there are no longer territories. There is essentially one national promotion in World Wrestling Entertainment. The main source of income and audience is pay-per-view (PPV). Once in a very great while, PPV has dropped as low as perhaps 150,000 to 175,000 buys per month on a nationwide basis. Generally, though, the audience can be counted on for roughly 250,000 per show.

St. Louis seldom, if ever, drew only 4000 customers. Our poorly attended cards drew usually 6000. That is 50% over and above the core audience.

WWE would be roughly 50% over and above what appears to be their base of 175,000.

At times in St. Louis, we could sell out Kiel Auditorium at 11,000 or even The Arena at close to 20,000. At times on PPV, such as WrestleMania, WWE will chalk up 800,000 plus buys. (Forget European figures, because that would probably follow as well considering old time promotions in England, France, etc.)

Those big attendance or PPV rates came and come from luring the casual audience above and beyond the core group to see wrestling. Something or someone special has caught their attention and good promotion has made something a special event. The core group, whether 4000 in St. Louis or 175,000 nationally, has provided the foundation for a tremendous success.

The point of all this is that the actual number of wrestling fans nationally today probably is very close to the same as it was back twenty, thirty, even more years ago. The difference is that WWE is the lone promotion and has the pie pretty much to itself.

Financially, WWE has far surpassed previous eras in finding and refining revenue streams so that the same number of people actually pay more and generate more income for the company. But by the same token, some of those options (DVD sales, toys, etc.) were not available years back.

This is not a knock at WWE. Face it. Under Vince McMahon, Jr., they have built a giant corporation that is hugely profitable. What has happened in wrestling has also occurred in many other businesses as small operators struggle and eventually fall before the national companies.

Vince read it and, no matter what anyone says, wisely took advantage of the opportunity. As one company and one voice, WWE has been able to trumpet the large number of fans there actually are far better than thirty separate operations could.

But the more it changes, the more it stays the same. When things comes down to the number of solid wrestling fans in the country, it’s likely about the same. When the casual followers are added, the percentage is still pretty much the same.

Just as Sam could count on his 4000 loyal fans in St. Louis, there is a base audience today that makes it all happen with its loyalty. Don’t get them angry or disgusted! That would chop away at wrestling and hurt badly.

Without those loyal fans – and you are probably one! – wrestling would have been in trouble then and it would be just as much struggling today. So, wrestling fans, pat yourself on the back.

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