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Quoted By: >>19108210 >>19108248 >>19108249 >>19108440 >>19108559 >>19108649
>During Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer broke down ESPN Unlimited’s performance after WWE joined the $325 million-per-year streaming partnership. While the service saw a surge during WrestlePalooza, it wasn’t nearly enough to justify the deal’s massive price tag.
>According to Meltzer, the platform reached 2.1 million total subscribers, but the true value to ESPN hinges on who’s paying for WWE. The key weekend—WrestlePalooza—reportedly added around 100,000 to 125,000 subscribers, but Meltzer did the math and it doesn’t look good.
> “If every month ends up kind of like this one… it’s worth $35 million a year. Now, they’re spending $325 million a year for $35 million a year of revenue coming from having these WWE events. Which is a very bad number.”
>Meltzer pointed out that ESPN is betting big on long-term growth, but that strategy might cost them heavily in the short run. He said most of the 30 million existing ESPN subscribers are getting the service for free through cable providers, which means the real revenue is only coming from a small portion of WWE diehards.
> “That’s why these companies are losing lots of money on this type of stuff—with the idea that down the road, when we get 50 million subscribers paying 30 bucks, we’ll be able to afford all this.”
>According to Meltzer, the platform reached 2.1 million total subscribers, but the true value to ESPN hinges on who’s paying for WWE. The key weekend—WrestlePalooza—reportedly added around 100,000 to 125,000 subscribers, but Meltzer did the math and it doesn’t look good.
> “If every month ends up kind of like this one… it’s worth $35 million a year. Now, they’re spending $325 million a year for $35 million a year of revenue coming from having these WWE events. Which is a very bad number.”
>Meltzer pointed out that ESPN is betting big on long-term growth, but that strategy might cost them heavily in the short run. He said most of the 30 million existing ESPN subscribers are getting the service for free through cable providers, which means the real revenue is only coming from a small portion of WWE diehards.
> “That’s why these companies are losing lots of money on this type of stuff—with the idea that down the road, when we get 50 million subscribers paying 30 bucks, we’ll be able to afford all this.”
