The WWE is continuing their push to be considered a sport in their latest rebranding effort at NBC Universal and Fox upfront presentations.
The WWE are in a better position to show they’re an endorsement magnet than they were in 2019 when they last met with Fox due to their deal with Peacock and the reported growth in revenue from live events and gaining traction streaming.
According to reports, the WWE claims WrestleMania 38 was the second most watched even on Peacock next to the Super Bowl.
Selling WWE as a sport
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon did an interview with deadline.com where she talked about the WWE being a sport, but better.
“It really is both. It’s like athletic theater. It’s the story, that’s why you care …. You’re swept up in the storylines. We can script the buzzer-beater moments, we can script the Hail Marys. We have a leg up on sports. … You may object to what we do, but you’re never going to be bored.”
She went further by pointing out how people want something labeled as one thing when it can fit into two as the WWE is “both in the sports live action business and the scripted entertainment business. People say, ‘Oh, you have to be defined in one bucket or another.’ … But think about ESPN, what does that first letter stand for? Entertainment.”
It’s important to note that ESPN attempted to claim Monday Night Football was entertainment in an attempt to expand viewership and marketing and it didn’t succeed.
People understand what sports are, and as for not being bored, anyone that’s watched the WWE for any length of time can predict the matches. They follow Vince McMahon’s whims and are extremely predictable.
Being unpredictable is what makes sports exciting and entertaining. With any league, the playoffs are the best time of year for fans because that’s when a single bounce can usher in a new hero and dethrone a powerhouse team.
In this regard, it shows a severe lack of understanding about sports and what makes it great for fans. We crave the unpredictability, the possibility of a game or series changing on one play and not someone’s narrow whim of what’s entertaining behind the scenes.
Let’s look at it from another angle, WWE shows like Raw tend to get worse by their third and final hour. Fans get tired at seeing the same rematches from previous weeks and so on.
Meanwhile, fans will remain glue to the television or live sporting event as they hope their team can hold on.
The WWE, and wrestling in general, tries to recreate those moments. Sports makes new moments happen regularly. That’s a huge difference.
Advertisers want live viewers
Another aspect is there’s no telling how long a live sporting event will last, especially when it comes to overtime, extra innings, etc.
But they know fans will remain to watch the event live instead of DVRing them so they don’t miss anything, and the advertisers are more assured their commercials will be seen.
With the WWE, not so much. They’re slated for 5 hours a week between Raw and Smackdown, and that’s it.
Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio pointed out that 96%-99% of live sports viewership is watched live, while the WWE number is around 70%.
That mean people will skip through the commercials and the ads will largely go ignored, and until the WWE can prove their viewers are watching at the same rate they may have a hard sell on this point.
An interesting thing to note, and the double speak won’t be a surprise to longtime WWE fans as we’ve seen and heard it all, but documents Wrestlenomics reportedly obtained that WWE’s legal team is arguing in a legal battle with MLW that:
“Professional wrestling is a scripted drama, not a sport. It has as much in common with an actual sport as the Rocky films have with actual boxing.”
It’s going to be interesting to see how things work out for the WWE in their new rebranding. How do you think it’ll go? Let us know in the comments below.
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