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WWE And Vince McMahon Are The Future Of Sports
Mike Ozanian Forbes Staff
2/13/2015
The future is here and it is the WWE. I am not referring to the wrestling, but rather how WWE is delivering its content to its customers.
Vince McMahon’s company is losing money but that is besides the point. The success of its WWE Network–the first-ever 24-7 direct-to-consumer network that was launched live in the U.S. just a year ago that delivers content directly to fans through over-the-top digital distribution–is a success.
Yesterday, WWE reported results for the fourth quarter and 2014 that were better than expected thanks to its fledgling network. As Variety reported, the network ended the year with 816,000 subscribers, WWE said, adding 85,000 during the fourth quarter, representing a 12% increase from Sept. 30. It surpassed the 1 million mark in January, 11 months after its launch. Advertising and subscription sales from the WWE Network and PPV events boosted network revenues 64% to $27.2 million during the quarter, with the streaming service accounting for much of that figure, or $23.3 million.
Give McMahon credit for having the guts to go against conventional wisdom and critics who wanted WWE to stick exclusively with its pay-per-view model. McMahon has looked Joseph Schumpeter‘s creative destruction theory in the eye and smiled right back. It takes you know what to take a profitable business model and rip it apart, but that is exactly what McMahon has done.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2015/02/13/wwe-is-leading-the-way-to-the-future-for-sports/
Mike Ozanian Forbes Staff
2/13/2015
The future is here and it is the WWE. I am not referring to the wrestling, but rather how WWE is delivering its content to its customers.
Vince McMahon’s company is losing money but that is besides the point. The success of its WWE Network–the first-ever 24-7 direct-to-consumer network that was launched live in the U.S. just a year ago that delivers content directly to fans through over-the-top digital distribution–is a success.
Yesterday, WWE reported results for the fourth quarter and 2014 that were better than expected thanks to its fledgling network. As Variety reported, the network ended the year with 816,000 subscribers, WWE said, adding 85,000 during the fourth quarter, representing a 12% increase from Sept. 30. It surpassed the 1 million mark in January, 11 months after its launch. Advertising and subscription sales from the WWE Network and PPV events boosted network revenues 64% to $27.2 million during the quarter, with the streaming service accounting for much of that figure, or $23.3 million.
Give McMahon credit for having the guts to go against conventional wisdom and critics who wanted WWE to stick exclusively with its pay-per-view model. McMahon has looked Joseph Schumpeter‘s creative destruction theory in the eye and smiled right back. It takes you know what to take a profitable business model and rip it apart, but that is exactly what McMahon has done.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2015/02/13/wwe-is-leading-the-way-to-the-future-for-sports/
