Royal Rumble & Elimination Chamber PPV Buys Are In; Details

[Heisenberg]

WWE had its first quarter conference call today, and WZ will be bringing you several highlights from the call. The following are buy rate numbers for the 2012 Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber PPV events:

-The 2012 Royal Rumble PPV drew 443,000 buys, which is down from the 446,000 buys the event drew in 2011, and also down from the 462,000 buys the event drew in 2010.

-The 2012 WWE Elimination Chamber PPV drew 178,000 buys, which is down from the 199,000 buys the event drew in 2011 and down from the 285,000 buys the event drew in 2010.

Decent buyrate but they're going to keep going down each year, I thought Rumble and Chamber had a decent build and throw in Jerichos return was pretty nice but they still couldn't get them up. I guess it doesn't help having a PPV very often. They had Extreme Rules just last week and now are already having a PPV 3 weeks away.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I don't like the idea of having a PPV a month. They honestly don't have much time to build feuds.

 

[Keith]

EC they won't be so worried about, but the fact the rumble has been on the slide for the past three years will worry them.

Have to say so far 2012 has been the year of the b shows for WWE as Elimination Chamber was better than rumble and Extreme Rules was better than Mania, and don't forget MITB was their best ppv of last year.

 

[rcoot93]

I feel they need to replace elimniation chamber to freshen up the line up a bit. Still not bad buy rates for the rumble when you compare them to ppv which arent the big 4

 

[We Are Legion]

I don't think Extreme Rules was better than Mania, but the buys will definitely keep going down. The internet streaming is also an escalating problem for WWE. Wouldn't blame it solely on the number of ppv's, moreso on the lack of hype for all ppv's in general besides Mania. Its becoming very run of the mill and WWE needs to quit being lazy and at least consider giving ppv's original themes and names again.

 

[Defiant]

In regards to streaming, I do it often because usually there's only one or two matches on the card I'm even interested in and for everything else I wouldn't mind just reading the results.

But whenever a PPV is built up effectively or it actually looks like a fun show, I'm always willing to find it in my wallet to order the show and prepare to stretch out on the couch to watch. Now that I've started making real money over the past year or so I find myself much more tempted to order events like MITB, Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania (and if I still streamed it but thought the show was awesome I'll try get it on DVD).

Scabs will always exist and always have, but any honest businessman knows that, for the most part, people are totally willing to fork out the money if they know the product is worth it. WWE's PPV schedule is just too crowded and they barely have the time to get me interested in half the events they put on. On top of that, I don't think the U.S. economy has exactly patched up its wounds yet. There aren't a whole lot of people that can afford to order PPV's every month, sometimes even 3 weeks.

Just cut 2 or 3 PPV's from next year's calendar, preferrably the shittier ones. Those extra weeks dedicated to further building up other PPV's will be a valuable trade in the long term.

 

[The New F'n Show]

The PPV argument is more complicated than people realize. Yes if they cut 2-3 PPV's The others buyrates may go up. But will they go up enough to replace the buys they lose by eliminating the PPV's. Internet fans don't think that way, businessmen do.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

Less wrestling? We just had a great Wrestlemania and another great Chicago PPV. Now we have Punk/Bryan lined up for Over The Limit. Why would you cut this shit down, now? It's not like WWE is going to change the pace they book at. Everything in the World moves at a break neck speed nowadays.

But then again, I didn't look at the numbers in the original post because I'm a wrestling fan, not a business fan.

 

[Keith]

It is true that when the product is great you don't mind so much, but then again it is still overkill and it is hard to enjoy it so much when it becomes like a blur. Plus it is too early to go overboard, things have picked up lately, but we have been here before.

 

[Dale]

The PPV argument is more complicated than people realize. Yes if they cut 2-3 PPV's The others buyrates may go up. But will they go up enough to replace the buys they lose by eliminating the PPV's. Internet fans don't think that way, businessmen do.

Same thing i've been saying all the time, I honestly believe it would have a negative affect on the business.

 

[Troy]

Great result for the Rumble to remain steady and the Elimination Chamber result isn't too bad either. Prices are more expensive now, especially with the HD option in the US so WWE will most likely end up with more revenue this year with less buys than they did last year.

We already know that WM is well up from last year and Extreme Rules needs to get 210k buys or more to beat last year. They have a good chance of beating that because of how good this year's ER was.