Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan
I'm posing a question to the fans of AEW and the critics alike. Can AEW be a success if they stay at 1 million on average? Perhaps the true average is a little lower but, I'm talking in the 800k-1.4 range that they usually get.
Bischoff recently said this on his podcast . . .
But it made me think. What is this all about? Who cares if WWE has twice the audience of AEW? If you could earn half the TV rights money that WWE does by being half as popular, you'd still be making enough on the tv rights to be a highly profitable company.
AEW get's around 45 million annually for Dynamite and that could have increased for Rampage and Battle of the Belts. If Turner Networks were willing to pay the 45 million annual after AEW's first few months, what logic is it to assume that they won't pay a considerable increase to maintain and probably even increase programing?
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Truthfully, yes because AEW's metric for success is can they appear successful. As long as Shad keeps funding the costs, they can keep the appearance up that they are a major company. The actual books do not need to be in the black, they just have to keep up the perception that they are killing it.
What they shouldnt do is be so smug about everything, because they know they aren't actually making a boatload of money. That is exactly what Bischoff said, overhype, overpromise, underdeliver, it will bite them in the ass.
As for the mythical giant new TV deal, they are projecting that as a foregone conclusion based on their demos today. In 2 years time a portion of that demo will have aged out of that demo, so they may not be able to command the rights fees they are banking on.