WWE Network Just Gave Away ‘WrestleMania 32’ For Free, And It Makes No Sense
WWE Network has managed to survive since its rocky inception in 2014, though it still isn’t clear how successful the concept has been. The company often points to its list of subscribers, but neglects to mention the number of those individuals enjoying a free month.
The free thing isn’t a new concept. In today’s economy, people want to be sure about something before parting with their dough, even if it is just $9.99 per month.
For newbies, it is a smart business decision. As an ongoing product used to coax back the people sick of your booking decisions? Not so much.
That became apparent to me on a personal note when, like many angered by the state of today’s product, I canceled my WWE Network subscription the night after Fastlane.
There was a feeling this company had been given enough opportunities, and that they were intent on pushing through with what wasn’t working for them regardless of how vocal their fans were about it.
Realizing this, there were two options for me: whine and moan about it on the internet or finally send a message with my wallet.
I chose the latter, though I am admittedly doing a bit of the former now.
In doing so, something amazing occurred to me. There was no remorse whatsoever. NXT still came on Hulu Plus on Thursday, and Lucha Underground delivered a far better product than both it and WWE’s main roster on Wednesday nights.
Good riddance.
But then WWE Network reached out to me barely a month after the event that broke the camel’s back and did something baffling.
They offered to give me WrestleMania 32 for free.
Maybe this makes sense if I’ve been gone for six months, but 30 days? It smacked of desperation, and I wasn’t really sure I could believe the offer I was looking at in my inbox in spite of its genuine seeming nature.
The offer sat for a few days as an incredulous me tried to figure out how the business model made any sense whatsoever.
WrestleMania 30 did 690,000 pay-per-view buys, and while WWE Network subscriber counts were not available at that time, the company reported around 722,835 subscribers as the 2014 fourth quarter average.
In 2015, 1.326 million viewers watched the event, the same year WWE Network reported 918,000 paying subscribers (1.3 million overall), which doesn’t speak too well of traditional pay-per-view buy rates for the company’s most popular event assuming those 382,000 freebies (1.3 million minus 918,000) were included in the overall viewership number.
The dates don’t quite line up, thus making it hard to lock down a number, but the assumption is that WWE has lost its 690,000-strong from WM30, who were willing to pay $50 or $60 in traditional PPV revenue, instead opting for (presumably) free trials and sporadic $9.99 per month subscriptions like mine.
One must ask whether offering a customer a free month prior to your biggest event 30 days after they canceled, and then hoping they stick around is sustainable.
With the frequency that WWE Network gives away these trials, it seems like their entire business model is built on hoping you forget to cancel.
That said, do I appreciate it? Sure. Am I going to stick around after the show is in the books? Highly unlikely, especially when canceling is this easy.
One last thing before signing off: what does it say about your “biggest show” that you’re basically telling the world it is no longer worth charging for?
It cheapens the prestige of the event.
What WWE Network should instead be doing is forcing subscribers to pony up the dough. Either agree to a six-month commitment or buy the PPV at full price from your cable provider.
The freebie thing can still work on lesser shows, but when it’s the biggest one you got — your ultimate moneymaker — you need to treat it a little more special than something like Fastlane that only locked down around 46,000 buys.
But what do you think, readers? Is WWE Network insane for giving away WrestleMania 32 for free, to newly canceled subscribers no less? Sound off in the comments section.
[Image via WWE Network]
