wrestling / Columns
The Hamilton Ave Journal 07.01.10: Volume 2 – Issue 144
THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL
By JP Prag
Volume 2 – Issue 144
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Hamilton Ave Journal is the only wrestling news report focused solely on the business of wrestling. Here in the Journal we not only look at the stories that are important to the investor and business-minded person, but also delve deeper into stories that most fans of wrestling would overlook. That is because the Journal is about getting the heart of the matters that affect the companies and outlooks of the wrestling world.
And where is Hamilton Ave? That is the location of the WWE Production Studio in Stamford, CT, and thus the most powerful place in the wrestling world. Besides, The East Main Street Journal just does not have the right ring to it.
Who am I? I am JP Prag: consultant, entrepreneur, businessman, journalist, and wrestling fan.
Now, ring the bell because the market is open.
The Journal’s front page area known as What’s News isn’t just about telling you what has happened. The stories in this section are about what will have an effect on the wrestling industry, individual federations, and the wallets of the fans.
Newsbites
With not much happening in the wrestling business world, here are some items of note:
WWE didn’t sue her because she brought the wrongful death claim, he [Mr. McDevitt] said. It did, however, petition a court in Connecticut to hear the claim, instead of the Missouri court where Hart had filed her lawsuit, which was settled before going to trial.
McDevitt objects to the insinuation that WWE coldly sought to deny Hart and her children compensation. In fact, he said, immediately after the accident the company offered to settle “out of humanitarian reasons…[WWE] loved the guy and didn’t want to see any harm come to [Hart’s] family.”
McDevitt denounced Hart’s comments as “pejorative nonsense” and said her current lawsuit is nothing more than “a personal attack” on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon.
In the Marketplace we look at the trends in television ratings. This section is less for critical analysis by the Journal but more for the reader to see what is really going on and to draw their own conclusions.
As with stocks, here in the Journal we track the progress of television ratings. If ratings are the barometer by which we judge the product, then over the course of time we should be able to see patterns, trends, and anomalies.
For the week ending Wednesday June 30, 2010, here are the current standings of the shows:
Analysis:
After a couple of weeks on the upswing, RAW gave back some of its recent gains by droping 5.5% to a 3.3 rating. They were not the only ones to give back recent gains, as SuperStars failed to recover most of its audience after a time-shift week and only came back to a 0.56 rating. SmackDown has been holding on to is ratings well considering that it is dealing with preemptions and some MyNetworkTV affiliates dropping it before the move to SyFy. Still on SyFy, NXT has failed to garner any new ratings and is instead now trending towards its lowest four-week average rating (something they set only six weeks ago). While this week is up from last week, they are still averaging lower. TNA is also struggling rebuilding their audience, but came in the exact same 0.99 rating as the week before. It will be quite some time before the company can build back up to the 1.3 rating it had before the move to Monday, and focus on selling additional TV shows to Spike is not going to make that happen any time sooner.
We all know that wrestling is a business, but we don’t often pay attention to what sells and makes money. Money and Investing looks into the top selling items in the world of wrestling and any interesting figures that may have come out this week.
What are the top selling items for the WWE? WWEShopZone.com releases a list of varying numbers to show what is selling for them:
1. John Cena Never Give Up T-Shirt Package ($37.99)
2. John Cena Never Give Up T-Shirt ($25.00)
3. John Morrison Elite Series #4 Action Figure ($15.99)
4. Kane Elite Series #4 Action Figure ($15.99)
5. The Undertaker’s Deadliest Matches DVD ($34.95, on sale $21.50)
6. WWE 11 Piece School Accessories Value Pack ($9.99)
7. John Cena Never Give up YOUTH Basics T-Shirt ($9.99)
8. Randy Orton Lobotomy T-Shirt ($25.00)
9. John Morrison Sunglasses ($12.00)
10. John Cena Never Give Up Baseball Cap ($20.00)
11. John Cena Never Give Up Sweatband Set ($12.00)
12. WWE Red/Blue Reusable Bag ($3.99)
13. The Undertaker’s Deadliest Matches DVD Package ($59.95, on sale $29.99)
14. Miz I’m Awesome T-Shirt ($25.00)
15. The Best Pay Per View Matches of the Year 2009-2010 DVD ($21.49)
16. Sheamus Celtic Warrior T-Shirt ($25.00)
17. Ricky Steamboat: The Life Story of the Dragon DVD/T-Shirt Package ($54.95, on sale $25.99)
18. The Undertaker’s Deadliest Matches DVD/Pendant Package ($44.95, on sale $22.99)
19. WrestleMania XXVI Shot Glass ($10, on sale $2.98)
20. WrestleMania XXVI ADULT Sunglasses ($10, on sale $4.98)
In the oddity of the sales chart, Kane actually made an appearance and surpassed his brother the Undertake coming in at number four on the list. Most of the rest of the list contained the usual cast of characters in John Cena, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, the Miz, and John Morrison (who also gained a second spot), but Ricky Steamboat also broke in at number seventeen while Sheamus held on to his spot at number sixteen. Trailing off at the end of the list were two WrestleMania discount items, again showing how much the rest of the roster has to catch up to the old items.
TNA sometimes releases a list of top selling items on ShopTNA.com. According to the site the top selling items were:
1. Don’s Insane Brown Bag Special ($20)
2. Mr. Anderson… People Are Fake T-Shirt ($19.99)
3. Jeff Hardy Enigma T-Shirt (Glow In The Dark) ($19.99)
4. The Best Of America’s Most Wanted DVD ($24.99, on sale $15.99)
5. RVD – Video Wall T-shirt ($19.99)
6. Hogan H Squared Limited Edition T-shirt ($29.99)
7. Destination X 2010 DVD ($19.99, on sale $15.99)
8. Unbreakable 2005 DVD ($9.99)
9. “Hulkamania” T-shirt ($19.99)
10. Beer Money / MMG “FANDIMONIUM” DVD ($19.99, on sale $14.99)
TNA has once again graced us with an update, where Don West’s special sale continued to dominate the number one spot (a spot it has not left this year). Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, RVD, and Hulk Hogan continue to be the top sellers, proving once again that they do make their salary at least in sales. Interestingly, though, the TNA originals to hold center stage include Beer Money (who always seem to find a way in), the Motor City Machine Guns (who used to have Beer Money’s spot), and Robert Roode’s former tag team: America’s Most Wanted. A DVD from this year actually made the list in Destination X, while a DVD from five years ago showing up does not bode well for the other PPV events this year.
Wrestling isn’t just about watching and reading. The best way to be a wrestling fan is to experience it live. Where is wrestling coming to in the upcoming weeks? The Personal Journal answers that question.
Do you know a wrestling event coming up? Send one in to The Hamilton Ave Journal and we’ll be sure to add it to the list.
The Editorials section is designed for you, the readers, to respond to the views presented in the Journal, send an important news item, or talk about another overlooked business related item in wrestling. Just beware: the Journal reserves the right to respond back.
From the commentary section last week, Trashy has some plans for the WWE’s new partnership with YouTube:
I’m curious to see just how much of the WWE library ends up on YouTube.
Some companies are finding the DVD market so unprofitable they’re happy to at least see some kind of profit from online access that’s free to the consumer.
For example, I just noticed 12 seasons of “King of the Hill” are available for steaming on Netflix while only six have actually seen home video release.
There are probably many pieces of film the WWE has that would not sell enough to put on DVD, but YouTube could work. Much like the micro-transaction system they are testing in South Korea with the video games, getting advertising dollars from YouTube (who has the carrying cost of hosting the film data) on a micro-basis can make uploading worthwhile.
What is really interesting is that this week Hulu announced that they are launching a tier for paid content. The WWE may to add content to there to get yet another stream of data. According to Hulu, that tier will work like traditional cable and be a blend of paid for content that is shared with providers and then advertising dollars on top of that.
Speaking of Hulu, Guest#7771 says:
The YouTube move is an interesting one. Diversifying from Hulu may end up being a clever move, although it does mean they stray from the NBC family.
More interesting is the fact that they don’t offer RAW on either Hulu or YouTube, not even after a week’s delay. This tells me they aren’t really sold on the internet as a profitable distribution medium.
There may be more to that, as Hellpop asks:
Is there a particular reason that the WWE doesn’t include Raw as part of their streaming offerings? Is it simply because it’s “the flagship” so they don’t want to potentially dilute the ratings by offering Raw through alternative sources, or are they contractually prevented from doing so? It seems to me that Raw is much more heavily bootlegged than any other WWE show, so if their reasoning is to get out in front of that, not including Raw is a self-defeating move.
The contract for RAW is also a lot older than SmackDown, SuperStars, or NXT, so there maybe rules they have with USA. Come next contract negotiations, expect a lot of that to change.
Moving away from television contracts, we go into the fun world of legal contracts and Owen Hart. Max says:
Nice breakdown of the Martha “Bitch” Hart lawsuit versus the WWE.
To which Karatgold24 responds:
How is she a bitch? She has a legally binding contract that states they are not to use his likeness and entitles her to royalties in the event that they did. The WWE did not honor that deal. They even admitted to it. They are in the wrong.
Well, let’s be clear: the WWE has admitted to using Owen’s likeness in a number of areas; they have not admitted that they should have paid out royalties and did not. As far as the WWE is concerned, they used footage that they own and that they can do anything they want with. Since they do not have a talent or legends contract with Owen Hart or his estate, they may be assuming that they owe nothing.
Guest#2536 continues:
The Martha Hart lawsuit is very interesting. While it seems a certainity WWE will have to make a pretty big royalty payment, I REALLY hope she doesn’t succeed in her efforts to prevent WWE from using or mentioning Owen Hart without permission, as it will simply lead to WWE never mentioning Owen Hart again and his career and legacy being forgotten.
As much as I understand why she is doing this – in her eyes WWE killed her husband – it is robbing the fans of Owen’s matches and character. It also sets a precedent which may lead to other wrestlers being excluded from future releases and recognition because of fear over lawsuits.
The precedent you bring up is the most worrisome part. The WWE owns 90% of all North American wrestling footage of any kind, so if an estate or a person says they want to block the WWE from using their image based on this case, a good deal of that footage could prove useless and waste away.
Going down the pike, there was plenty of discussion about if TNA’s name hurts or helps their brand awareness. Among the diatribes was this from Guest#3906:
And what exactly is the name TNA going to stop them from achieving? A national cable TV deal? They already have that. A video game? Been there, done that. Action figures for kids? Guess what, TNA has that too.
The concept that the name TNA is holding the company back in any capacity is just a delusion dreamed up by internet fanboys that somehow fail to see TNA is an incredibly successful organization.
It would seem that the other side of the argument is that TNA has achieved those things IN SPITE of their name and that if their name were something else they would have an easier time doing it. The name could be slowing down and hurting their brand awareness, but at the end of the day the brand is what you make of it. Do you think if one said “Apple” forty years ago that people would think of the worldwide leader in peripheral personal electronics? TNA can make their brand stand for anything; their biggest problem is the “message” associated with the brand is so disjointed that nobody knows what “TNA” is supposed to be.
Of course, there are other factors to consider as Guest#6883 points out:
I don’t think that the name is what is holding TNA back. The lack of market awareness hold them back. Even when the South was pretty much Coca Cola country, people knew about Pepsi Cola as an alternative. Same with McDonalds and Burger King, Wendy’s, etc.
Being an alternative that (may) fill a market need doesn’t do much good if people don’t know you exist.
Exactly. The name is not a problem if people have never heard it.
Going over to the merchandise side of the table, Guest#1231 says:
I don’t think Sheamus having a t-shirt in the WWE best-selling list means much when it as at no. 16. Sheamus must be one of the least over multiple-time world champions ever.
If sales are an indication, you should look more closely at Chris Jericho who rarely ever finds his way on the top selling list. Edge, too, has often struggled to hold on to a place. Rey Mysterio goes in sprints and until recently the Undertaker hardly ever showed up. More than all of them is the Big Show who has made one appearance in the nearly three years of the Journal.
But Guest#5350 brings up a more valid point:
Considering what is above Sheamus, the sheer number of items offered by WWE, and the weak first championship reigns that are standard in WWE now, I think it shows plenty.
On the other hand, consider who isn’t above him. For that matter, the IWC love’s Orton’s new face turn and look where he is, only one item at #11.
Let’s go one step further. Between RAW, SmackDown, and NXT there are nearly 100 WWE performers. Of them, Sheamus is outselling 95%. Given that, isn’t being anywhere on the list a huge accomplishment?
And to wrap it all up this week, the question that this reporter is sick of and will just finally answer, via Guest#4150 (who may or may not be the same person who has asked multiple times before):
If grammar mattered, then “The World Wrestling Entertainment” doesn’t make as much sense as “The World Wrestling Federation” did prior to the forced name change in 2001.
With that in mind, why do you always put a “the” before WWE, but not before TNA or any other wrestling organization in your report, when you should be more consistent and not either put or not put a “the” prior to any wrestling organization’s name?
Because if you read the public relations material from The WWE, The WWE often writes and speaks the company name as The WWE. Yes, “The Entertainment” does not necessarily make sense, but it is grammatically correct because “Entertainment” is used as a noun and a title, therefore can be “The”. And yes, the “The” is carryover from an older name of the company, but it is part of the brand awareness. TNA, on the other hand, has never called themselves “The” anything. Neither do those other organization like ROH, CZW, AAA, NJPW, etc….
To sum it all up, here is the tagline of the WWE’s corporate website:
Official site of the parent company of the WWE brand.
The End.
Plenty more was written, so be sure to take a look. And if you enjoy the Journal, why not bookmark 411wrestling.com and make it your home page? You can do that by clicking here.
This concludes Issue #144 (Volume 2) of THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL. Join us next week as we get ready to ring the bell again.
Till then!
