“Cash Rules Everything Around Me”-Wu-Tang Clan
It’s not shocking, but it will still somewhat surprising when news surfaced last week that Saudi government official, Turki Alalshikh made the announcement that Wrestlemania 43 will be held in Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t meant to be announced early, but PWinsider’s Mike Johnson, the most accurate reporter of pro wrestling news, confirmed the story, with an official announcement made the following day at a press conference in Las Vegas before the Canelo/Crawford fight that was promoted by TKO because of its affiliation with Dana White’s Zuffa boxing project. It’s worth noting that the majority of the talent on stage looked less than thrilled to be there, and the ham-handed way that Turki Alalshikh praised was almost nauseating since he’s literally paying millions of dollars for high profile stars to compliment him.
Ted Dibiase was right, everyone has a price.
This reinforces the notion that the merger with the UFC early last year to form the TKO corporation is even more strictly business than the WWE conglomerate before it. Sure, Vince McMahon was an absolutely ruthless businessman, and as we’ve found out in the time since the merger, he’s probably a deviant, but the McMahon era stayed true to some of the traditional tropes of the business. Certain people were given a job for life because of their tenure with the company and their loyalty to Vince Sr. as far back as the Capital Wrestling days. Gorilla Monsoon was always kept in the fold because of the previous deal that he had with Vince Sr. and was rightfully always respected within the industry. Captain Lou got fired every three weeks at the Allentown TV tapings, but was kept on the payroll for years. A recent example was when Wrestlemania for next year was announced for New Orleans before Las Vegas offered more money to host the event for the second year in a row. Say what you want about Vince, and he definitely deserves the criticism, but that’s simply not something that would’ve happened under his tenure. Granted, professional wrestling isn’t known for its ethics and standards, which this story ironically reflects, but McMahon knew that he always had to deliver what was promised to the audience, as that trust in the ability to delivered what was advertised is ultimately the glue that keeps the fan base following the brand.
Ultimately, that’s the difference between big business and the local indy outfit. The Ultimate Warrior was fired right after he got through the curtain at Summer Slam in 1991, but it’s the promoter’s responsibility to get the match in the ring. The independent show is always at risk for the aging legend no-showing the event.
However, TKO is business in the most literal sense, and maybe that’s the best move, as their decisions are made by the highest bidder. But, it also makes you wonder if that approach will sour the traditional pro wrestling fan base?
Wrestlemania is the pinnacle of sports entertainment, and within the past two decades in particular has taken incremental steps to maximize the overall drawing power and thus the revenue of the event. The last time the show was held in a regular arena was in Chicago in 2006 and then it went to stadiums exclusively, as the drawing power of just the WM brand became enough to sell that amount of tickets. Within the time since, the company began to add a week of events to go along with the biggest event of the year, making it a pro wrestling vacation of sorts rather than just a signature show. Make no mistake about it, the ability to draw the travel crowd each year is specifically based on the fact that there’s enough meat on the bone for fans to make the trip to each location. The next step in the process after it was established that fans from different states and different countries were willing to make the trip to see Wrestlemania in-person was the ability to secure site fees for different cities. With tens of thousands of fans traveling to the show, there’s an inventive for cities to bid to get the rights to host the show, as it’s millions of dollars worth of an economic impact in each location. Airlines, hotels, and restaurants all get a boost from Wrestlemania being held there.
When you take into account that Las Vegas paid the WWE $5 million for the rights to host Wrestlemania 41 along with $4.2 million in tax credits, it puts into perspective how many millions of dollars worth of an economic impact that the event has in a location. The site fees, the ticket sales, the merchandise, and the other events that the company has in conjunction with Wrestlemania week allow for a staggering amount of money to be made by the corporation.
That’s why it’s almost nauseating to see how easy it is for Turki Alalshikh to use oil money, and some would say blood money, to buy the most prestigious sports entertainment event as yet another propaganda tool for the Saudi government. Considering that the typical WWE pay-per-view that is held there usually garners the company somewhere around $40 million, I wouldn’t be shocked if the number reaches $100 million for Wrestlemania. Keep in mind, the Saudis would essentially have to pay a number that would be more cash than what the company would generate from hosting the show in the United States, including the site fees, ticket sales, and merchandise.
In this situation, the WWE isn’t in partnership with the host city like in America since Turki Alalshikh is outright buying the event to import it to Saudi Arabia. Everyone has a price, and the number is big enough for TKO that the Saudi official is going to dictate the direction of the show. Similar to the other events held there, it’s a bought show so the amount of tickets sold doesn’t matter since TKO will get a guaranteed amount of money for the rights to the event.
Does this sour the domestic and even international fan base?
Yes, but that doesn’t matter because Alalshikh paid enough for TKO executives to take the heat. Truth be told, the majority of the WWE fan base, especially the more causal fans, are sheep that will follow the leader more than anything else. Remember, this was the same fan base the cheered Vince McMahon the last time he was mentioned on television in the midst of the sexual misconduct scandal. Of course, the fans are going to complain about Wrestlemania going to Saudi Arabia, as it’s tough to think there will be any travel crowd in 2027, particularly with the military conflicts that have happened in the region in recent years so it’s possible that it wouldn’t be advisable for Americans to travel there. In fact, the US government already has a lengthy list of precautions and warnings for any citizen that might travel to Saudi Arabia. That being said, the same fans that will complain about Wrestlemania 43, will flock to Las Vegas to attend the show next year so it’s almost a moot point.
But, there is an aspect of this situation that could impact domestic crowds on a very simple level.
Mark Shapiro, the CEO of the TKO corporation, said at the recent Goldman Sachs conference that the organization looks to continue to increase WWE ticket prices to be more in line with UFC tickets. Shapiro specifically mentioned that Vince McMahon had priced tickets for families, but that TKO looked to maximize ticket revenue in the future. Basically, the executive that was talking to other executives that explaining that the plans is to price out a measurable portion of the WWE audience. This is where the numbers on the page don’t tell the full story, as the ability for fans to attend WWE events is ultimately how the WWE was able to create generations of fans as a way to maintain its solid foundation over the years. Shapiro is worth millions of dollars, and I’m not so what do I know? But, my two cents on the matter is that this strategy of squeezing every dime out of everything possible just to pad the numbers on the page will eventually have an overall negative affect on the bottom line. Sure, it works right now, but what happens five or ten years from now? The peaks of the business are there because there are naturally valleys so it’s unrealistic to think that the WWE can keep record-setting ticket prices over the course of several years. How will the next generation of fans be made if the product is too expensive to truly follow with the increased cost across the board? The live event tickets, a few different streaming platforms, and merchandise have increased, which makes it cost more money to be a WWE fan.
All of this seems to be a way to maximize the short-term money without regard to the possible pitfalls of how it could effect business in the future. Where will the WWE be under the TKO banner in a decade after the initial Netflix deal? In some ways, it appears that TKO is trying to boost the value of the corporation as much as possible to be able to sell it at some point in the future. It would be very disappointing, but I don’t think it’s totally unrealistic that it’s possible that the Saudi government could eventually buy TKO, as they continue to want to secure more American entertainment options.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
