The Hamilton Ave Journal 04.12.08: Volume 1 – Issue 29
Posted by JP Prag on 04.12.2008
The WWE Developmental System kicks off a fresh year, WWE stock gets picked up off the street, the Middle East believes in kayfabe, Raw’s rating drops over 15%, and it is three Flairs to two Hardys in the Top Ten.
THE HAMILTON AVE JOURNAL
By JP Prag
Volume 1 – Issue 29
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.
WHAT'S NEWS
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.
LEAD STORY: WWE Development System kicks off the new year
After closing down connections with OVW and moving all development talent to FCW, the WWE has made the final moves to get FCW ready for the year. Recently, Dusty Rhodes was removed as a booker for SmackDown/ECW and put in charge of character development and house shows for FCW. Talent has thus far appeared happy with the decision with reports of high morale following Mr. Rhodes arrival, despite several of the talent being dressed down for eating at the buffet table before major talent arrived for the Hall of Fame.
Although FCW performs every Tuesday night at the Bourdon St Nightclub, there are still plans in place to get FCW a regular weekly television show in the local market. Before WrestleMania, rumors were circulating that these tapings were going to take place this week, but thus far nothing has come to fruition.
Meanwhile, the WWE continues to seek out and sign new talent to FCW, including Curt Henning's daughter Amy Hennig. Oddly enough, despite consolidating all talent to FCW, the WWE is allowing Amy and her brother Joe to train at Harley Race's school for the time being. It remains to be seen how long they will be allowed to train there before being required to report to FCW with the rest of the talent.
FCW is already filled with second and third generation wrestlers, including Ted DiBiase Jr, Reid Flair, Nattie Neidhart, and Afa Anoai. With the mix of wrestling newbreed, multi-generations stars, and talent search findings what will come out of FCW in the years to come. They have a high reputation to live up to after OVW helped develop the likes of Batista, Randy Orton, and John Cena.
WWE stock gets picked up on the street
Business and stock review site TheStreet.com recently featured the top yielding entertainment stocks. The Street's James Altucher had this to say:
One of the highest-yielding stocks on the list is World Wrestling Entertainment, the small entertainment conglomerate that encompasses live and televised events featuring their World Wrestling Entertainment brand. WWE has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20 and a P/E-to-growth ratio of 0.6.
This has been yet another positive reaction to WWE as a business, an important step as the WWE tried to gain more Fortune 500 advertisers—as covered last week here in the Journal.
As can be imagined, though, when a company becomes the attention of so much positive press there is bound to be some backlash. Last week, Timothy Sykes of BloggingStocks.com lashed out against the "Financial Media" for brainwashing investors "into believing that in order to make money in the stock market, you must keep up to date with every single headline and development in the business world." He specifically noted WWE as the top stock that is making headlines that are causing stock jumps instead of actual performance.
The WWE performance is what has got many people's attention, especially their large cash reserve and high dividend yield. As expected, the fight will continue on the market. The WWE was trading in the $19-range on Friday.
Newsbites
Some items of note in the rest of the wrestling business world:
WWE: The Music Vol. 8 premiered at #24 on the Billboard charts. The last WWE: The Music was an iTunes-only compilation, making this a change in direction from last year. Prior to this, the last WWE CD printed was 2006's Wreckless Intent.
Although many TNA talent did end up attending the WWE Fan Axxess to advertise TNA, TNA Public Relations Manager Steven Godfrey wanted a large group to go over to the event in the hopes of making enough news to get on YouTube or the local news. According to sources, many of the top talent was against the idea, and thus it did not happen. At the same time, there are reports of wrestling fans being turned away from Axxess for wearing TNA merchandise. If so, it is odd that actual TNA talent got in while fans wearing merchandise did not.
Reports are now circulating that Matt Morgan has turned down his role in American Gladiators. Either way, he is now moving into a wrestling role in TNA, including being in the Lethal Lockdown match at tomorrow night's PPV.
On the heels of performance enhancing drugs being found in the former home of Mike Knox and at least two other former developmental stars, former developmental wrestler Mack Johnson Jr. has checked himself into rehab. He, like Jake Roberts, Sean Waltman, and Scott Hall, is taking advantage of the WWE's offer to help all current and former talent with addiction problems.
WWE Kids Magazine officially launches April 15, 2008. This would coincide with Income Tax Day in the United States.
In an interesting turn for the kayfabe, director Morgan Spurlock recently stated that during his tour of the Middle East one of the things that remained true was that people loved the WWE and thought the program was real (or at least the title matches were not fixed). The full scale of this belied and number of fans may be questionable, but the Middle East will continue to prove a fertile market for WWE and TNA as they expand internationally. It remains to be seen how fans would react if they had ready access to 411mania.com.
MARKETPLACE
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 52 weeks we should be able to see patterns, trends, and anomalies. Please note that gaps in the chart below are due to data not being released/available.
For the week ending Thursday April 10, 2008, here are the current standings of our shows:
RAW
Close (This Week's Rating): 3.3
Open (Last Week's Rating): 3.9
Percentage Change: ▼ 15.4%
52-Week High: 4.2
52-Week Low: 2.5
All Time High: 8.1
All Time Low: 1.8
SmackDown!*
Close (This Week's Rating): 2.7
Open (Last Week's Rating): 2.3
Percentage Change: ▲ 17.4%
52-Week High: 2.9
52-Week Low: 2.2
All Time High: 5.8
All Time Low: 1.0
* SmackDown! ratings may include fast overnight if final ratings are not posted. Also, SmackDown! ratings are for the prior week as overnights are not available before this article goes to print.
ECW
Close (This Week's Rating): 1.3
Open (Last Week's Rating): 1.3
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 1.8
52-Week Low: 0.6
All Time High: 2.3
All Time Low: 0.6
TNA iMPACT**
Close (This Week's Rating): 1.1
Open (Last Week's Rating): 1.0
Percentage Change: ▲ 10.0%
52-Week High: 1.2
52-Week Low: 0.9
All Time High: 1.2
All Time Low: 0.6
** TNA iMPACT's are for the prior week as ratings may not be available at the time of the Journal's posting
Analysis:
With heavy competition from the NCAA tournament, RAW took a 15.4% drop. This is the lowest rating RAW has received since January 7, 2008 which scored a 3.2. One week is hardly a trend, but RAW has been running a pattern of popping the rating and then trailing off or returning back to normal the next week. But the effectiveness of the pops in ratings are even beginning to wear off. Look at the last four major bumps in the chart above. As you can see, there is an overall slightly downtrend pattern. It appears as if the audience is beginning to be more resilient to the build up of big shows. The WWE may be overdoing the "special" RAWs, making them less special and giving extra viewers less a chance to tune in. And once again, although they may make one week sparks, the WWE has yet to translate any of those additional viewers into regular weekly viewers.
Even SmackDown, which had been approaching 3.0 just six months back has tapered off. This week saw a 17.4% ratings increase back to the normal 2.7 range, but still not a full recovery for earlier in the year.
MONEY AND INVESTING
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 ten selling items for the WWE? From WWEShopZone.com:
1. Triple H Hammer T-Shirt
2. Ric Flair Commemorative T-Shirt
3. John Cena 8-Bit T-Shirt
4. Hardys Purple Logo Pendant
5. Triple H King of Kings: There is Only One DVD/Retro T-Shirt Package
6. Jeff Hardy Armbands
7. WWE Black Gift Bag
8. Eddie Guerrero Arm Band 2006
9. Ric Flair Thank You T-Shirt
10. Ultimate Ric Flair DVD Collection
In the week post-WrestleMania, Ric Flair continues his tribute goodbye with his commemorative t-shirt, his thank you t-shirt, and his old DVD set. No surprises from the good showing of John Cena and Triple H, but amazingly Jeff Hardy's armbands return despite his lack of presence. The Hardy Purple Logo is not odd with Matt around, but it is very clear that Jeff is the major seller of the duo. Also making a second surprise appearance this week is the Eddie Guerrero Arm Band. Most likely, much like the black gift bag, a low priced item to get free shipping.
TNA releases a list of Top Ten selling items, but in no order. Using the function to sort by most popular, they came up as:
1. Against All Odds 2007 DVD
2. Sacrifice 2007 DVD
3. Christian Cage "Instant Classic"
4. Motor City Machineguns T-Shirt
5. TNA Global Impact DVD
6. TNA Meltdown Vol. 2
7. TNA Anthology – The Epic DVD Set
8. James Storm "Sorry About Your Damn Luck" T-shirt
9. Shark Boy 24:7 T-Shirt
10. Turning Point 2007 DVD
With zero movement on TNA's list, the Journal much question how often this is updated. But in an interesting turn of events, the Shark Boy 24:7 T-shirt is currency out of stock.
PERSONAL JOURNAL
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 next 2 weeks? The Personal Journal answers that question.
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
13 (Apr)
TNA Lockdown Lowell, MA
RAW Live Nottingham, UK
SmackDown/ECW Live Strasbourg, France
14
RAW London, UK
SmackDown/ECW Cardiff, UK
15
SmackDown/ECW London, UK
RAW Live Linz, Austria
TNA iMPACT Orlando, FL
16
RAW Live Vienna, Austria
SmackDown/ECW Live TNA iMPACT Orlando, FL Birmingham, UK
17
RAW Live Granada, Spain
SmackDown/ECW Live Sheffield, UK
18
RAW Live Coruaa, Spain
SmackDown/ECW Live Newcastle, UK
ROH Live Detroit, MI
19
RAW Live Lisbon, Portugal
SmackDown/ECW Live Glasgow, UK
ROH Live Chicago Ridge, IL
20
21
RAW Greenville, SC
22
SmackDown/ECW Greensboro, NC
23
24
25
26
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.
EDITORIALS
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.
Can't wait for the TNA game. I've been playing svr for years now hoping something with a little more substance and smoothness to its gameplay would come out. And from what you said it sounds like I wont have to wait much longer :)
Be sure to check out the preview of the TNA iMPACT video game exclusively here at 411mania.com, written by this reporter. Although the release is still set for "Summer 2008", this reporter was quick to point out that Summer ends September 21st, to which there was an agreement.
What has been second guess merchandise figures, especially in relation to John Cena outselling Jeff Hardy:
Thats bs, the two Jeff Hardy items that have been outselling Cena are the Armbands and the Pendant that's two items and they have been the same two items for over a month, and the Hardy pendant has consistently found its self at number 1 for a large part of the year.
Actually, the items that Jeff Hardy is selling have switched out several times, including the Arm Bands. And I will not deny that the pendant has seen number 1 at several points, but it has hardly been consistently number one. If anything, Triple H has help the number one spot with a variety of different t-shirts over this year more often than most.
The WWE Shop top ten changes on a daily basis, you need to check the list everyday! And report each day to give a better reflection of the sales.
Because Jeff Hardy had two items at numbers 1 and 2 all week, a couple of weeks back but the one day you checked the list they were at around 4 and 6, that's hardly a fair reflection of what's selling on a weekly basis
This is a weekly article, how could the results be posted everyday? The purpose of the merchandise section is not for 100% accuracy, but a general feel of what is selling at a given point in time. This reporter often pulls the list on a Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, so by the time it posts on Saturday the results are already outdated. I applaud you for checking WWE ShopZone on a daily basis, but this reporter does not have the time and has bigger fish to fry.
Your dedication to Hardy is quite obvious, but so is your disdain for Cena. Guest sums it up best:
Ok it's time to get over it: Cena is not just popular with kids and his merchandise sells better then anyone's, end of story. Hardy is on a bit of a hot streak—no doubt—and Triple H has had a new shirt shoved down our throats every other week now, so let us not get out of hand. Also, it is the MENS'S sized Cena shirt that has been selling like crazy, not the kids size. Cena in no way sucks and it is getting redundant to say so.
The one point of contention that the Journal will make is that kids often buy adult sized shirts, especially bigger kids (and the Journal means that in both age and girth).
Plenty more was written, so be sure to take a look. Also worth your read this week is:
Completely inaccurate quote, I think WWE's stock is fine, but I don't care--I
was referring to the fact that WWE is scripted entertainment, as comparable to
unscripted--yet still fake--financial journalism
Posted By: Timothy Sykes (Guest) on April 11, 2008 at 11:33 PM
Okay I'm sure there are at least some smarks over in the Middle East, it's not
like they don't have internet access. I've been surprised that WWE hasn't done
any tours of the area in a long time. Places like Dubai, Doha, Baharain, and
Kuwait City (which they have been to before) are heavily westernized and stable
and are not the corrupt war-torn Middle East we see on the news. And with F1 and
the IRB Sevens going into the region, I think the WWE and even TNA should
capitalize on. Having lived in Dubai for a few years I know that there are a
lot of wrestling fans and would love the experience of a live event.
Posted By: Guest#6118 (Guest) on April 12, 2008 at 12:15 AM
We do have smarks in the middle east. When my brother, Roop, returned from the
USA, he educated us in the ways of Sports Entertainment. While over in the
states, he learned the ways from a very smart man named Darth Mortis, who would
show him wrestling videos in his mother's basement after their shifts at 7-11.
Darth Mortis is a very great man.
Posted By: Habib (Guest) on April 12, 2008 at 04:23 AM
I've got to second Timothy Sykes here - you took his blog post completely the
wrong way - it had nothing at all to do with WWE stock really. To save other
readers the trouble of searching, here's the article in question:
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/04/01/ignore-random-market-noise-and-focus-on-lesser-known-names/
Also, it's not like this is the first time someone associated with
thestreet.com has recommended WWE stock - Jim Cramer has had both Vince and
Linda McMahon on "Mad Money" and has generally been positive on the
stock for quite a while.
Having said that, in general, I see WWE stock being a fair investment. The
biggest problem for the stock in the last few years isn't even all the
wrestling scandals that we obsess about - it's that in general, Wall Street
fund managers and analysts are a little snobbish, and tend to ignore businesses
that are seen more as popular amongst the middle class and lower (until, of
course, they start to blow out the numbers on a consistent basis). There also
isn't a ton of analyst coverage - I believe there are six analysts at this time
(I may be wrong on this) - and obviously analyst recommendations do have some
effect on a stock. The dividend yield is sick though (7.6% as of close on
4/11), and more importantly, after looking at their last quarterly report and
seeing their cash on hand, I have no doubt they'll be able to cover the
dividend AND do whatever they want. An obvious key for future performance will
be how well the WWE can expand overseas - with the U.S. economy hitting the
skids at this point, the WWE really needs to take advantage of their unique
position in the wrestling industry to really crank up the growth in other
countries.
Posted By: ICTimer (Guest) on April 12, 2008 at 09:21 PM
"It remains to be seen how fans would react if they had ready access to
411mania.com."
You know, this usually is one of my favorite columns on this site, but that was
a totally inappropriate comment. What do you think, we don't have internet
access here in the middle-east? That internet is somehow a rarity?
Posted By: Smark (Guest) on April 13, 2008 at 10:52 AM
13 April 2008
Top 10 Sellers
1.Jeff Hardy Armbands EXCLUSIVE
2.Ric Flair Commemorative T-Shirt EXCLUSIVE
3.Undertaker Graveyard T-Shirt EXCLUSIVE
4.Triple H Hammer T-Shirt EXCLUSIVE
5.Hardys Purple Logo Pendant
6.Rey Mysterio Deluxe Aggression #13 Action Figure
7.John Cena 8-Bit T-Shirt EXCLUSIVE
8.WWE Black Gift Bag
9.WrestleMania 24 Program EXCLUSIVE
10.Ric Flair Thank You T-Shirt EXCLUSIVE
Posted By: Joe McShow (Guest) on April 13, 2008 at 01:08 PM
