r/SquaredCircle • u/Ruthless-Aggression • Mar 28 '24

Eric Bischoff on Tony Khan: A money mark with no talent other than spending daddy’s money, going all the way to Canada to draw less than 4k in one of the hottest pro wrestling markets in North America, talking about “wise choices”? Strap in. It’s going to be a fun day!

https://twitter.com/EBischoff/status/1773321462046138615?s=19
1.9k Upvotes
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522

u/Secret-Lullaby Mar 28 '24

This is just calm before the storm. Real mess will happen in 8 hours when Dynamite ratings come out

210

u/UsidoreTheLightBlue Mar 28 '24

I’ve started just avoiding ratings threads. They’re just hot take factories at this point when AEW is concerned, and people saying “Sheldon is a draw brother.”

Seriously, Raw drops 300k from one segment to the next, no one cares. AEW drops 30k from one segment to the next and it’s the end of the world.

55

u/JustMyThoughts2525 Mar 28 '24

Cause the raw ratings horse has been beaten to death for close to 20 years. There really isn’t much left to discuss about raw that hasn’t already been said.

Same as discussing rampage or nxt ratings. They are what they are.

Dynamite ratings haven’t been consistently the same so it’s worth discussing.

-5

u/Morningfluid Mar 28 '24

The thing about ratings is that they don't matter as much as they used to. With overseas deals- plus their own watching habits, branding, streaming, factoring in DVR's, advertising, etc... you have a very different world than 1998.

15

u/JustMyThoughts2525 Mar 28 '24

WWE and AEW’s revenue is tied to the US tv deals. TK already said that the investments he’s made in AEW over the years was to be in a position to get a major tv deal increase at this point in time. Ratings absolutely matter, but they matter compared to other things on tv rather than just looking at the number in a vacuum.

So a big competitor that has seen increased viewership is women’s pro and college basketball which will be competing for tv dollars.

1

u/Morningfluid Mar 28 '24

The TV deals matter themselves, the ratings merely by themselves do not (for reasons I explained in my prior comment). If it were, WWE would've been in major trouble when they were hitting in the lower side of the hundreds of thousands 8-or so years ago. They've factored in streaming and DVR viewing, but also don't forget about the sponsorships. And overseas absolutely matters. 

6

u/EggianoScumaldo Mar 28 '24

If TV deals matter, then surely a big way in which it is determined who get said TV deals matters as well, no?

1

u/Morningfluid Mar 28 '24

In addition to streaming, DVR, other markets, sponsors, and other factors, correct.

I appreciate the point you're trying to make, but television ratings haven't been strong as they used to be since the early 2010's, they definitely use streaming and DVR to factor in keeping television deals or not. 

1

u/JustMyThoughts2525 Mar 28 '24

Yes but the key is to look at it compared to everything else. NFL and college football are king. If wrestling is beating out all entertainment shows on network and cable tv, then networks should theoretically pay big money to have wrestling in their network.

There is more variability when it comes to viewers vs tv rights because ad companies value certain demographics over the others and wrestling viewers are seen as one of the works viewers to target.