Here are the latest WWE business comparisons, looking at May:
Estimated average attendance 05/05 – 3,593
Estimated average attendance 05/06 – 6,148 (+71.1%)
Estimated average gate 05/05 – $129,330
Estimated average gate 05/06 – $190,593 (+47.4%)
Percentage house shows sold-out 05/05 – 0.0
Percentage house shows sold-out 05/06 – 14.3
Average Raw rating 05/05 – 3.88
Average Raw rating 05/06 – 3.84 (-1.0%)
* This translates as an average of 4.82 million viewers, down from 4.83 million last year. The show was doing 5.34 million in January.
Average Smackdown rating 05/05 – 3.02
Average Smackdown rating 05/06 – 2.27 (-24.8%)
* This translates as 3.35 million viewers, down from 4.9 million in January.
May 2005 PPV: Judgement Day
– 9,500 crowd for est. $500,000 gate
– 265,000 buys for est. $3.79 million revenue
May 2006 PPV: Judgement Day
– 14,000 sell-out, 9,800 paid for est. $560,000 gate
– 238,000 buys for est. $3.41 million revenue
PPV buys -10.2%
PPV revenue -7.5%
* The fall in PPV buys this year will most likely vanish when the final number is released.
* Nonetheless, there is a decline in domestic business as an estimated 40% of the buys come from overseas, compared to 34% in 2005.
All in all, house shows are up 71% while TV is down 14% from May 2005 and down 20.2% since January. However, since WWE makes no actual money from the ratings now, overall profits are still up – thanks in no small part to the likes of Cena and Mysterio drawing more fans to the live shows.
Credit: Wrestling Observer newsletter (click here for subscription information)
