After the slew of releases from Total Nonstop Action last week, including Tommy Dreamer, Sami Callihan, Tessa Blanchard, and others, there was enough chatter online about what it could mean for the Anthem-owned organization that the company sent out a press release, claiming that the group went through a “work force reduction” to “streamline operations.” Most took that PR spin as a way for the promotion to potentially set the table for a future sale since downsizing would make an acquisition easier to eliminate duplicate positions, similar to the office staff cuts that were made after the WWE/UFC merger.
Ultimately, the AMC deal, a scenario that was thought to be a way to uplift the fledgling league after years of toiling, might end up being a net negative for the promotion, similar to the way that TNN tanked ECW.
Reportedly, AMC, a nontraditional network for pro wrestling, pays TNA $10 million a year for the rights to Impact, and obviously, that’s a hefty amount of cash, but the production costs of live television, at least for a portion of the schedule, aren’t cheap either. In short, there was a reason that the early days of TNA television were done with marathon tapings of a month worth of shows at The Impact Zone at Universal Studios since it was exponentially more cost effective than a live touring schedule each week. There was also a reason that Hulk Hogan’s decision to take Impact on the road every week eventually saw the organization lose so much money that there was a tax lien on the company by the state of Tennessee before it was rescued from the brink of collapse by Anthem.
Essentially, the cost of the production of national television was the biggest factor of what cratered ECW because the terms of the contract gave them nothing but exposure in return for taping a show that would be on mainstream cable. It’s unknown what type of ad revenue split that TNA has with AMC, but with roughly 200,000 viewers, depending on the week with a slight variation, it’s not as though there will be a massive amount of cash to be made from the commercials that run during the show.
Don’t get me wrong, TNA’s brand awareness grew to its highest position in more than a decade during the NXT crossover so it made sense for Anthem to take the AMC deal, but similar to the ECW dilemma, or any other type of expansion, there’s an inherent gamble that goes along with that attempt at expansion. The ability to secure a bigger platform has the goal to eventually use it to make more money, which is the entire point of the sports entertainment business, but there’s usually an increase in costs to get the product onto that bigger platform with the aspirations of the goal of increased revenue. It goes without saying that it’s more expensive to air a live show on AMC than it is to run a taped show on a smaller network.
As I said, I understand that Anthem couldn’t pass up the chance to be back on mainstream cable, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle, and there are many other moving parts to the situation that have to line up properly for the group to achieve the success that it hopes for on the stage that AMC provides. The booking of pro wrestling is very subjective, but from a macro point of view, the bottom line is, a product must be on the right platform with the right content to achieve the most success possible. I could be wrong on this, but with the current pro wrestling landscape, I’ve found much of TNA’s product to be rather indifferent. That’s not to say that the matches or the roster are subpar, but that both aspects of the promotion are secondary to the other options in the industry.
Quite frankly, TNA doesn’t have nearly the amount of star power to be in the conversation with WWE so Anthem isn’t going to move the needle based on the stars they have on the roster, or in many ways, they aren’t going to get the demographic that follows the WWE brand for the star power to sample TNA since it’s a secondary product as far as the level of stars on Impact. The Hardys are a draw, but the fans that follow the Bloodline aren’t going to consider the aging, albeit legendary, tag team “must see” for pay-per-views. On the other end of the spectrum, most of the in-ring aspects of the TNA show are solid, but if fans want to see “work rate matches” they are going to follow All Elite Wrestling.
Basically, TNA doesn’t have the star power to get a portion of the WWE fan base, and it doesn’t have the level of work rate to get a piece of the AEW audience so Impact is middle of the road, which is often the opposite of the ability to draw money.
The rumor mill suggest that BG James, former Smackdown head writer that left the company a few months ago, will be in attendance for the Slammiversary pay-per-view this Sunday. The problem is, if there’s a major shift booked for the TNA PPV this weekend, the Forbidden Door show, even with a weaker card for the PPV compared to years past because of the status of New Japan Pro Wrestling, will have more fans following it.
There’s no doubt that the WWE working agreement was beneficial to TNA since that was one of the reasons that they were able to secure the AMC contract, but the harsh reality might be that the organization simply doesn’t have a product that will standout with the modern landscape. As I wrote in the article last week, it’s not automatic that the market in 2026 can support three national groups the way that it did in the late-90s when there’s such an increase in the amount of options for viewers. Every cable channel, streaming platform, and podcast look to get a portion of those viewers. Along the same lines, despite the working agreement with the WWE, TNA is still competing for those pro wrestling dollars. For example, it’s actually more expensive to order Slammivervary on Sunday with the traditional $40 pay-per-view price than it is for the $30 ESPN+ subscription for fans to watch Night of Champions on Saturday. Furthermore, the Forbidden Door PPV airs at the same time so there’s direct competition for the PPV buy rates. This situation becomes more difficult across the board when the economic crunch is taken into account. Sure, fans will still spend money on sports entertainment, but they will simply be more particular with what they spend their “wrestling budget” on at any given time. The TNA main event of Mike Santana vs. Nic Nemeth should be a very solid match, but it doesn’t have the star power of the WWE main event or the work rate of the AEW main event so where exactly is the market for TNA?
The chatter online had the number of $50 million for a potential sale price for Total Nonstop Action, but that sounds way too outlandish. I’d be shock if Anthem got even half of that number. Granted, Anthem has owned the company more than a decade, and if they’ve started to lose money with the production costs of the AMC contract then it would make sense for them to look to cash out instead of the project becoming a money pit. That being said, I’m not sure who a possible buyer would be. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Metlzer claims that WWE has an option to buy TNA through the working agreement that was established, but given that working with TNA independently owned shields the corporation from any possible anti-trust violations, I doubt that TKO would purchase TNA.
That being said, if I had to guess, and I could be wrong, I’d say that a sale, at least right now, isn’t truly in the cards. For Anthem to get a worthwhile amount of cash for TNA, there must be a realistic option that there will be a buyer that will want to make a significant investment into the potential of TNA to generate substantial revenue in the future. It’s this simple, if someone bought TNA for $25 million, is the brand really going to generate $25 in possible revenue to justify the purchase? I think the more realistic approach is that Anthem will downsize going forward to try to reduce overall costs. As I wrote last week, to assume that TNA will fold would be completely misguided since the organization managed to survive through more bleaker times. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how Anthem adjusts and if it will affect the overall presentation of the company.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
