---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Howard Primer"
Scott,
I checked out the Quicken Loans Arena website to see if any cheap seats were available for Smackdown this week. As of Sunday morning, you could still buy four seats together on the floor, and the lowest prices available were $45 (this is from the primary source, not the secondary market).
Think the Rock's agent might be keeping track of these arenas that were sold out during the lead-up to WrestleMania and can barely draw half the building now? Raw was here on March 12 and drew about 18,000. Optimistically, they might get to 10,000 on Tuesday.
----------------------------
Business has been very up and down depending on the market this year. Plus there's just nothing going on right now for anyone to care about.
Definitely not a good sign headed into the big season, though.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the rocks agent doesn't give a fuck what a smackdown is doing.
ReplyDeleteA good agent would. Part of an agent's job is to maximize leverage for his client. In this case, it would be showing how much better the product draws on shows the Rock appears on, vs. shows he doesn't.
ReplyDeletePretty sure he already has a contract.
ReplyDeleteHis next contract, then. Point is, the agent is always looking for ways to improve his client's earning potential.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm pretty sure rock's agent is more concerned with gi joe 2 and what wrestlemania than what a b-show in a shitville town like Cleveland is doing. Just a guess on my part.
ReplyDeleteRevenue from a movie or a pay-per-view would be more important, and I can't imagine anyone arguing differently. But the attendance figures would support the agent's case.
ReplyDeleteDoes Ari Gold represent the Rock?
ReplyDeleteThe Rock is represented by the William Morris agency.
ReplyDeleteThat's not nearly as funny as thinking it is Ari Gold so I am going to keep thinking that.
ReplyDeleteIf they televised the negotiations, it would make for some of the best TV they've had in a while.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine whoever's repping Rock doesn't really give a shit about anything wrasslin'-related, short of WM...
ReplyDeleteNo one cares.
ReplyDelete"IT DOESN"T MATTER IF THE ARENAS ARE SOLD OUT...
ReplyDeleteWell, they got me for a $200 ticket to Wrestlemania. I normally wouldn't go to a WWE show right now with everything being so crappy, but Wrestlemania seems like something we should all do once if we have a chance....
ReplyDeleteThis is typically the weakest time of the year anyways, so I wouldn't read too much into it, although I'd expect them to be down a few % points from the previous year.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious how WrestleMania does for the Rock/Cena repeat, as last year was the first year in a few where ticket sales hadn't been slower than usual. Even still, they usually are pulling in crowds of around 60,000 with about 50,000 paid, so nothing to sneeze at.
Doesn't Raw normally outsell Smackdown to begin with, just because it's the A-show and has more star power?
ReplyDeleteSmackdown draws about half the house Raw does, if what happens in Hershey is any indication.
ReplyDeleteFUCK YOU
ReplyDelete#proudCLEVELANDER
It's as simple as the fact that Smackdown doesn't draw. With at best 2/3 of the Raw audience, they certainly aren't going to move nearly as many tickets as the A show or when Rock will be in town.
ReplyDeleteSo much for that. According to PWInsider, they sold 50,000 seats in a day for over a $10 million dollar gate at higher ticket prices than ever before, so this show will be far and away the highest grossing WM in terms of ticket sales. Nuts!
ReplyDeleteSmackdown is basically the modern equivalent of Sunday Night Heat. It's a nothing show with meaningless matches, forgettable angles, and endless re-caps of Raw segments.
ReplyDeleteSo of course they can't sell many tickets for such a weak show.
Wrestlemania sells no matter what as far as the live crowd goes.
ReplyDeleteNow when it comes to actually buying the PPV when these rematches get announced? That's another thing.
I agree with many of the posters who say that it's likely Smackdown more than anything. Not saying that Raw would sell their building out, but it's also not the run-up to WrestleMania.
ReplyDeleteSmackdown has to be at an all-time low in star power and interest... because with the Smackdown guys on Raw, there's really not a lot of major angle progression on SD with those guys now. I used to watch it on DVR during the weekends, but recently I've been reading the spoilers and just watch a segment or match that sounds interesting, or just delete it off the DVR all together.
As for the people who say why should the agent care: If I were the Rock, I'd want my agent to care when it came to negotiations. Even with the mitigating factors that I mentioned above, as the agent I would love to say that a show with my client on it drew twice as many people to the same building as one that my client was not on.
And for other people that care, WWE sure does... as they're putting Cena back on Smackdown shows in dark matches to try to boost ticket sales.