WWE released its financial earnings for their 2nd quarter today. Here are just a few highlights:
– WrestleMania 29 drew 1,039,000 PPV buys which was down from WrestleMania 28, which produced 1,217,000 buys. That revenue was made up with the increased ticket prices to the show.
– House show attendance was down 2% and that includes WrestleMania. The post-WrestleMania European tour was up slightly.
– All pay-per-view buys were down across the board. Part of this is attributed to the elimination of the Over The Limit PPV in May.
– PPV total buys for the quarter were:
WrestleMania 1,039,000 – down 15% from last year based on numbers recorded at the same time
Extreme Rules 231,000 – down 14%
Payback 186,000 – down 4% from No Way Out
– Increased television revenue helped to offset the drop in PPV buys and has positioned WWE well to renegotiate their television and ad contracts next year.
– Mattel’s sales were up but the bankruptcy of WWE’s video game publisher THQ lost the WWE money. DVD business was also down.
– Traffic to WWE.com was up 27% & helped generate $6.1 million, while WWEShop.com broke even.
– Vince McMahon commented that there was no point in dwelling on their performance “or lack of it.” He added, “We do know what we’re doing, by the way.” Vince spoke of WrestleMania 29 being the highest grossing WrestleMania to date (combining PPV & ticket sales). He also said there were many other areas in which they believe they will be able to make up the lost revenue including more reality shows like “Total Divas”, the launch of the new John Cena clothing line and being able to utilize the new Performance Center more.
