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11 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
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13Guest The Jiz
14A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
15By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
161 2 3 4 5 6 NEXT  Page 1 of 7  
17Guest Nell Santucci
18Guest Nell Santucci
19Guests
20Report post 
21Posted July 11, 2012
22Hi everyone,
23
24 
25
26First, I want to compliment the amazing forum posters here. The depth of knowledge that posters have is amazing. In attempting to research a particular point (buyrates under Vince Russo's WCW), I came to the startling fact that has long been known, namely that buyrate percentages are meaningless without knowing the size of the PPV universe. In fact, I'm almost of the feeling that they're of limited utility. Consider the following example.
27
28 
29
30The list at the following link seems perfectly plausible: http://www.the-coli.com/tsc/6747-wwf-e-ppv...ml#.T_0WDPUtcv8 [.] This link claims that the 1997 Survivor Series (headlined by Bret/Michaels) did 250,000 buys. Another website claims that that Survivor Series' buyrate was .89. Comparatively, Starrcade 1997 (one month later) is said to have done a 1.9 buy, with the raw number being 650,000 according to this link (that obviously has Meltzer's e-DNA all over it): https://midnightlogic.wordpress.com/2012/04...restlemania-28/ [.] So here is a linear formula I came up with to see if any meaning can be extrapolated from total buys.
31
32 
33
34(The size of the PPV universe) x (buyrate / 100) = (raw PPV buys).
35
36 
37
38If this hypothesis is correct, then one should be able to gather Starrcade 1997's raw PPV buys with a few points of reference, namely knowledge of the buyrate of the 1997 Survivor Series and the raw buys of the Survivor Series. So, let's test this hypothesis.
39
40 
41
42We want to find out the PPV universe in November of 1997. Since Survivor Series 1997 did approximately 250,000 buys with .89 buyrate (implying .0089 when divided by 100), the size of the PPV universe must have been as follows: (The size of the PPV universe) x (.0089) = 250,000, implying (The size of the PPV universe) = 28,089,888 potential buyers.
43
44 
45
46Naturally, one would not expect the size of the PPV universe to vary much from a month-to-month basis, otherwise two plausible possibilities abound: (i) the formula is wrong (which would render those buyrates meaningless from a practical, historical standpoint), or (ii) the PPV universe size is inherently unstable, which is less likely from month-to-month even if it would matter year-to-year. Either way, the unknown of the PPV universe's size complicates calculations. Now, let's test the hypothesis, comparing it with the empirical record.
47
48 
49
50If the size of the PPV universe was around 28,089,888 in Nov. 1997, it is plausible to conclude that the size was around that in Dec. 1997. Similarly, the PPV buyrate of Starrcade 1997 has been noted as 1.9, implying .019 when divided by 100. So the hypothesis implies that Starrcade 1997 did approximately 533,708 buys. In fairness, I have seen the number at 1.8, implying .018 when divided by 100. So Starrcade 1997 got around 505,618. In either way, that is 120,000 buys off the real number of 650,000.
51
52 
53
54So one can conclude that there is a need for raw numbers, and I ask everyone to research and contribute to complete the list. It is urgent that we do this, which would provide an easy, reliable reference for the broader IWC community without some claiming absurdities like Wrestlemania III getting 4,000,000 buys because of that 10.2 buyrate.
55
56 
57
58On a personal level, this year's decline in Raw's ratings but that Wrestlemania XVIII (Cena-Rock) did better than last year, despite last year's Wrestlemania (Cena-Miz) having a much better Raw ratings average calls for a need to investigate the wisdom of ratings and revenue. As a corollary, it can give us lessons on the Attitude Era. For example, Raw in 1999 often hovered near 6.5 rating. How many of those millions watching would buy the PPV? Were many viewers just interested in its shock value? (Of course, but roughly how many?)
59
60 
61
62Finally, I do maintain much orthodoxy on the notion that PPV buyrates are inherently related to two factors as follows: (i) heat and (ii) star power. Star power with no heat gives a stronger than average but barely above the average buyrate like Cena/Rock v. Truth/Miz at last year's Survivor Series. So heat is both a necessary and sufficient condition to draw, explaining Hogan v. Sting or Bret v. Michaels (Survivor Series) drawing, despite neither of the former two guys being inherent draws by that point.
63
64 
65
66I'll work on a list and research some numbers. I will compile all the stats in one post down below. Though not required, citing the source and issue would be a great thing to do for the sake of historical accuracy due to number fluctuations that happen over the years. As always, Dave Meltzer is probably the best source.
67
68 
69
70Let's start unifying knowledge!
71
72Guest Nell Santucci
73Guest Nell Santucci
74Guests
75Report post 
76Posted July 11, 2012
77WWE PPV Buys
78
79 
80
81* Consider any Royal Rumble PPV as the Royal Rumble being an unmentioned draw since USA Network's 1988 Royal Rumble did an impressive rating, even if that wasn't so much the case in 1989. (The change from 1989 to 1990's number is impressive. By 1991, it was a huge event due to there being a world title match.) By similar reasoning, I suppose one could regard the King of the Ring as an inherent draw, even if it didn't always work out that way.
82
83** Canceled match
84
85For the latter years, I add a number of matches that might be perceived as midcard if those acts were often thrown in the title picture the following month.
86
87 
88
89WARNING: All these buys are inexact approximations. So there is a lingual disconnect between "approximation" and approximation, i.e. what constitutes as a weak approximation and a strong approximation. Consequently, a strong approximation will be used only if there exists some range such that two sources are within the same neighborhood (i.e. < 100,000 buys) but vary widely enough to matter. In such cases, I take an average of the range and round up to the next thousand integer, e.g. an average of 51,001 will be rounded to 52,000 in good faith.
90
91 
92
93CCT = Closed Circuit Television
94
95PPV = Pay Per View
96
97 
98
99 
100
1011985
102
103 
104
105Wrestlemania
106
107398,000 (CCT) and a negligibly small number of PPV buys
108
109Wrestling Classics (Hogan/Piper and tournament)
11052,000 buys 1
111
1121986
113
114 
115
116Wrestlemania II (Hogan/Bundy, Mr. T/Piper in boxing, Dynamite/Davey v. Beefcake/Valentine)
117
118250,000
119
120 
121
1221987
123
124 
125
126Wrestlemania III (Hogan/André, Savage/Steamboat, Piper/Adonis in hair)
127
128400,000 (PPV); 450,000 (CCT)
129
130Survivor Series (Team Hogan v. Team André, Team Savage v. Team Honky Tonk Man)
131325,000
132
133 
134
1351988
136
137 
138
139Wrestlemania IV (Tournament with Hogan/André as guaranteed match)
140
141485,000 2
142
143Summerslam (Hogan/Savage v. André/DiBiase with Ventura as SGR)
144500,000
145
146Survivor Series (Team Hogan/Savage v. Team Boss Man/Akeem, Team Ax/Smash v. Team Barbarian/Warlord)
147310,000
148
149 
150
1511989
152
153 
154
155Royal Rumble (no other drawing match)
156
157165,000
158
159Wrestlemania V (Hogan/Savage, Rude/Warrior, Roberts/André, Ax/Smash v. Barbarian/Warlord/Fuji)
160767,000
161
162Summerslam (Hogan/Beefcake v. Savage/Zeus, Rude/Warrior)
163575,000
164
165Survivor Series (Team Warrior v. Team André, Team Hogan v. Team DiBiase)
166385,000
167
168 
169
1701990
171
172 
173
174Royal Rumble (no other drawing match)
175
176260,000
177
178Wrestlemania (Hogan/Warrior, Dusty/Sapphire v. Savage/Sherri, Piper/Brown, Ax/Smash v. André/Haku)
179560,000
180
181Summerslam (Hogan/Earthquake, Warrior/Rude, Savage/Rhodes, Tornado/Perfect)
182550,000
183
184Survivor Series (Team Hogan v. Team Earthquake, Team Warrior v. Team Perfect, the mystery egg)
185400,000
186
1871991
188
189 
190
191Royal Rumble (Warrior/Slaughter)
192
193440,000
194
195Wrestlemania VII (Hogan/Slaughter, Warrior/Savage, Virgil/DiBiase, Perfect/Boss Man)
196400,000
197
198Summerslam (Hogan/Warrior v. Slaughter/Mustafa/Adnan with Sid as SGR, LOD v. Nasty Boys, Virgil/DiBiase, Bret/Perfect, Boss Man/Mountie in jailhouse)
199375,000
200
201Survivor Series (Hogan/Undertaker, Team Flair v. Team Piper)
202300,000
203
204This Tuesday in Texas (Hogan/Undertaker, Savage/Roberts)
205140,000 3
206
207 
208
2091992
210
211 
212
213Royal Rumble (World Title on the line at the Royal Rumble made the Rumble more important than normal, Bret/Mountie**)
214
215260,000
216
217Wrestlemania VIII (Hogan/Sid, Savage/Flair, Bret/Piper, Undertaker/Roberts)
218390,000
219
220Summerslam (Bret/Bulldog, Savage/Warrior, Undertaker/Kamala)
221
222285,000
223
224$3,600,000 / ($27.50 x .46) from the 09-29-1993 Wrestling Observer
225
226$27.50 is the price from the 09-08-1992 Wrestling Observer
227
228Survivor Series (Savage/Warrior v. Flair/Ramon**, Bret/HBK, Undertaker/Kamala in coffin)
229250,000
230
231$2,900,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 12-27-1993 Wrestling Observer
232
233 
234
2351993
236
237 
238
239Royal Rumble (Bret/Ramon, HBK/Jannetty)
240
241Wrestlemania IX (Bret/Yokozuna, Hogan/Beefcake v. Money Inc., Gonzalez/Undertaker, Perfect/Luger)
242
243430,000
244
245King of the Ring (Hogan/Yokozuna, HBK/Crush)
246Summerslam (Luger/Yokozuna, Bret/Lawler, HBK/Perfect)
247
248245,000
249
250$3,100,000 / ($27.50 x .46) from the 09-29-1993 Wrestling Observer
251
252Survivor Series (Team Luger v. Team Yokozuna, Team Bret v. Team Lawler)
253180,000
254
255$2,080,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 12-27-1993 Wrestling Observer
256
257 
258
2591994
260
261 
262
263Royal Rumble (Undertaker/Yokozuna)
264
265200,000
266
267$2,300,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 02-20-1995 Wrestling Observer
268
269Wrestlemania X (Luger/Yokozuna, Bret/Owen, HBK/Ramon in ladder)
270420,000
271
272King of the Ring (Piper/Lawler, Bret/Diesel)
273185,000
274
275$2,150,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 08-07-1995 Wrestling Observer
276
277Summerslam (Undertaker/Undertaker, Bret/Owen in cage, Tatanka/Luger, Ramon/Diesel)
278300,000
279
280$3,700,000 / ($27.50 x .46) from the 10-09-1995 Wrestling Observer
281
282Survivor Series (Undertaker/Yokozuna, Backlund/Bret, Team HBK v. Team Ramon)
283 
284
285 
286
2871995
288
289 
290
291Royal Rumble (Bret/Diesel)
292
293225,000
294
295$2,580,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from 02-20-1995 Wrestling Observer
296
297Wrestlemania XI (Lawrence Taylor/Bam Bam Bigelow, HBK/Diesel, Bret/Backlund in I quit with Piper as SGR)
298340,000
299
300In Your House: Mother's Day (Diesel/Sid, Bret/Lawler, Bret/Hakushi)
301180,000
302
303$1,260,000 / ($14.95 x .46) from 07-10-1995 Wrestling Observer
304
305King of the Ring (Diesel/Bigelow v. Sid/Tatanka, Bret/Lawler in kiss my foot)
306
307150,000
308
309$1,680,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from 08-07-1995 Wrestling Observer
310
311IYH 2: The Jackknife v. The Powerbomb (Diesel/Sid, HBK/Jarrett)
312155,000
313
314$1,080,000 / ($14.95 x .46) from the 09-11-1995 Wrestling Observer
315
316Summerslam (Diesel/Mabel, HBK/Ramon in Ladder)
317205,000
318
319$2,370,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 10-09-1995 Wrestling Observer
320
321WWF cut the price from $27.50 to $24.95 before the event (09-04-1995 Wrestling Observer).
322
323IYH 3: Two Dudes with Attitude (HBK/Diesel v. Yokozuna/Owen**)
324160,000
325
326$1,100,000 / ($14.95 x .46) from the 11-13-1995 Wrestling Observer
327
328IYH 4: Bite of the Bulldog (Diesel/Bulldog, HBK/Douglas**)
32990,000
330
331$619,000 / ($14.95 x .46) from the 12-18-1995 Wrestling Observer
332
333Survivor Series (Bret/Diesel, HBK/Ahmed/Bulldog/Sid v. Yokozuna/Owen/Razor/Douglas in wildcard elimination, Team Undertaker v. Team Mabel)
334128,000
335
336$1,470,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 01-02-1996 Wrestling Observer
337
338IYH 5: Bite of the Bulldog II (Bret/Bulldog, Undertaker/Mabel, Diesel/Owen)
33974,000
340
341$680,000 / ($19.95 X .46) from the 02-12-1996 Wrestling Observer
342
343 
344
3451996
346
347 
348
349Royal Rumble (Bret/Undertaker, Goldust/Ramon)
350
351260,000
352
353$3,560,000 / ($29.95 x .46) from the 03-11-1996 Wrestling Observer
354
355IYH 6: The Cage from Hell (Bret/Diesel, Owen/HBK, Ramon/Kid in crybaby)
356125,000
357
358$1,160,000 / ($19.95 x .46) from the 04-02-1996 Wrestling Observer
359
360Wrestlemania XII (Bret/HBK, Undertaker/Diesel, Piper/Goldust, Warrior returns)
361290,000
362
363IYH 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies (HBK/Diesel, Warrior/Goldust)
364IYH 8: Beware of Dog (HBK/Bulldog, Undertaker/Goldust in casket, Vega/Austin in Caribbean strap)
365
366King of the Ring (HBK/Bulldog, Mankind/Undertaker, Ahmed/Goldust, )
367
368IYH 9: International Incident (Team HBK v. Team Vader, Undertaker/Goldust)
369
370Summerslam (HBK/Vader, Mankind/Undertaker in boiler room)
371
372IYH 10: Mind Games (HBK/Mankind, Undertaker/Goldust in final curtain)
373
374IYH 11: Buried Alive (Mankind/Undertaker in buried alive, Sid/Vader, Undertaker/Mankind)
375
376Survivor Series (HBK/Sid, Austin/Bret)
377
378IYH 12: It's Time (Bret/Sid, Undertaker/Executioner in Armageddon rules)
379
380 
381
382 
383
3841997
385
386 
387
388Royal Rumble (HBK/Sid, Undertaker/Vader, Ahmed/Faarooq)
389
390IYH 13: Final Four (Bret/Vader/Undertaker/Austin, Furnas/LaFon v. Owen/Bulldog, Rock/HHH)
391
392Wrestlemania XIII (Undertaker/Sid, Bret/Austin in submission, Ahmed/LOD v. Faarooq/Crush/Savio in Chicago street fight)
393
394237,000
395
396IYH 14: Revenge of the Taker (Austin/Bret, Undertaker/Mankind, LOD v. Bulldog/Owen)
397IYH 15: Cold Day in Hell (Undertaker/Austin, Shamrock/Vader in no holds barred, Ahmed v. Crush/Savio/Faarooq in gauntlet)
398
399King of the Ring (HBK/Austin, Undertaker/Faarooq)
400
401IYH 16: Canadian Stampede (Team Bret v. Team Austin, Undertaker/Vader, Mankind/HHH)
402
403Summerslam (Bret/Undertaker w/ HBK as referee, Austin/Owen, Bulldog/Shamrock, Mankind/HHH in cage)
404
405IYH 17: Ground Zero (HBK/Undertaker, Bret/Patriot)
406
407IYH 18: Badd Blood (HBK/Undertaker in HIAC, Bret/Bulldog v. Patriot/Vader, Owen/Faarooq)
408
409Survivor Series (HBK/Bret, Austin/Owen, Kane/Mankind, Ahmed/Shamrock/LOD v. Faarooq/Rock/Mustafa/Brown)
410
411250,000
412
413IYH 19: D-Generation X (HBK/Shamrock, Austin/Rock, HHH/Slaughter in boot camp, NAO/LOD)
414 
415
416 
417
4181998
419
420 
421
422Royal Rumble (Undertaker/HBK, Shamrock/Rock, LOD/NAO)
423
424IYH 20: No Way Out in Texas (Team Austin v. Team Triple H, Kane/Vader, Ahmed/Shamrock/Chainz/DOA v. Rock/Faarooq/Brown/Henry/Mustafa in war of attrition)
425
426Wrestlemania XIV (Austin/HBK with Tyson as SGR, Undertaker/Kane, Cactus/Charlie v. NAO in dumpster, Rock/Shamrock, Mero/Sable v. Goldust/Luna)
427
428730,000
429
430IYH 21: Unforgiven (Foley/Austin, Kane/Undertaker in Inferno, NAO/LOD 2000, Luna/Sable in evening gown)
431IYH 22: Over the Edge (Foley/Austin with McMahon as SGR, HHH/NAO v. Owen/Kama/Brown, Rock/Faarooq)
432
433King of the Ring (Austin/Kane in First Blood, Undertaker/Mankind in HIAC)
434
435IYH 23: Fully Loaded (Austin/Undertaker v. Mankind/Kane, Rock/HHH, Jacqueline/Sable in bikini contest, Owen/Shamrock in dungeon)
436
437Summerslam (Austin/Undertaker, Rock/HHH in ladder, NAO/Mankind in no DQ handicap, Shamrock/Owen in lion's den, Edge/Sable v. Mero/Jacqueline)
438
439700,000
440
441IYH 24: Breakdown (Austin v. Undertaker/Kane, Rock/Shamrock/Mankind in cage)
442IYH 25: Judgment Day (Kane/Undertaker with Austin as SGR, Rock/Henry, Shamrock/Mankind)
443
444Survivor Series (Tournament with Austin, Kane, and Undertaker as favorites, Sable/Jacqueline)
445
446IYH 26: Rock Bottom (Austin/Undertaker in Buried Alive, Mankind/Rock, NAO v. Boss Man/Shamrock)
447
448 
449
450 
451
4521999
453
454 
455
456Royal Rumble (Mankind/Rock in I quit, Sable/Luna in strap)
457
458650,000
459
460IYH 27: St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Austin/Vince in cage, Rock/Mankind in last man standing, Kane/Chyna v. HHH/X-Pac)
461Wrestlemania XV (Austin/Rock, Undertaker/Boss Man in HIAC, Shane/X-Pac, Mankind/Show)
462
463800,000
464
465IYH 28: Backlash (Rock/Austin, Mankind/Big Show in boiler room, Undertaker/Shamrock, HHH/X-Pac)
466Over the Edge (Austin/Undertaker, Rock/HHH)
467
468King of the Rock (Austin v. Vince/Shane in handicap ladder, Rock/Undertaker)
469
470Fully Loaded (Austin/Undertaker in First Blood, Rock/HHH in Falls Count Anywhere Strap, Shamrock/Blackman in iron circle)
471
472Summerslam (Austin/Mankind/HHH with Ventura as SGR, Rock/Billy Gunn in kiss my ass, Test/Shane in Greenwich street fight, Undertaker/Show v. X-Pac/Kane, Shamrock/Blackman in lion's den weapons)
473
474650,000
475
476Unforgiven (HHH/Rock/Bulldog/Kane/Mankind/Show, Jericho/X-Pac, Snow/Boss Man in kennel from hell, Jarrett/Chyna)
477No Mercy (Austin/HHH in anything goes, Venis/Mankind, Hardys/E&C in ladder, Rock/Bulldog, Jarrett/Chyna in good housekeeping)
478
479Survivor Series (Austin/HHH/Rock**, NAO v. Snow/Mankind, Chyna/Jericho)
480
481Armageddon (HHH/Vince in no holds barred, Rock/Mankind v. NAO, Show/Boss Man, Kane/X-Pac in cage)
482
483 
484
485 
486
4872000
488
489 
490
491Royal Rumble (HHH/Cactus in street fight, Jericho/Chyna/Holly)
492
493590,000
494
495No Way Out (HHH/Cactus in retirement match, Show/Rock, X-Pac/Kane in no holds barred, Angle/Jericho)
496480,000
497
498Wrestlemania 2000 (HHH/Rock/Foley/Show, E&C/Hardys/Dudleys in Ladder, Benoit/Jericho/Angle)
499824,000
500
501Backlash (HHH/Rock, Benoit/Jericho, Show/Angle)
502Approximately 650,000 4
503
504Judgment Day (HHH/Rock in iron man with HBK as SGR, Benoit/Jericho in submission, Shane/Show in falls count anywhere)
505420,000
506
507King of the Ring (Rock/Kane/Undertaker v. HHH/Vince/Shane for World Title)
508475,000
509
510Fully Loaded (Rock/Benoit, HHH/Jericho in Last Man Standing, Undertaker/Angle, Venis/Rikishi in cage)
511420,000
512
513Summerslam (Rock/HHH/Angle, Kane/Undertaker, E&C/Hardys/Dudleys in TLC, Benoit/Jericho in 2/3)
514570,000
515
516Unforgiven (Rock/Benoit/Kane/Undertaker, HHH/Angle, Hardys/E&C in cage)
517605,000
518
519No Mercy (Rock/Angle, HHH/Benoit, Austin/Rikishi in no holds barred, Jericho/X-Pac in cage)
520550,000
521
522Survivor Series (Austin/HHH, Angle/Undertaker, Rock/Rikishi, Jericho/Kane)
523400,000
524
525Armageddon (Angle/Rock/Austin/HHH/Rikishi/Undertaker in HIAC, Jericho/Kane in last man standing)
526465,000
527
528 
529
5302001
531
532 
533
534Royal Rumble (Angle/HHH, Benoit/Jericho in ladder)
535
536625,000
537
538No Way Out (Rock/Angle, Austin/HHH in 2/3 falls with singles, street, and cage respectively, Jericho/Eddie/Benoit/X-Pac)
539590,000
540
541Wrestlemania XVII (Austin/Rock, E&C/Dudleys/Hardys in TLC, Vince/Shane in street fight, Benoit/Angle)
5421,040,000 (970,000 domestic and 70,000 international)
543
544Backlash (Austin/HHH v. Undertaker/Kane, Shane/Big Show in Last Man Standing, Benoit/Angle in 30 minute submission)
545375,000
546
547Judgment Day (Austin/Undertaker, Kane/HHH in chain, Angle/Benoit in 2/3)
548405,000
549
550King of the Ring (Austin/Benoit/Jericho, Undertaker/DDP in non-sanctioned, Shane/Angle in street fight)
551445,000
552
553Invasion (WWF v. WCW/ECW with Booker/Dudleys/DDP/Rhyno v. Austin/Angle/Undertaker/Kane/Jericho)
554775,000
555
556Summerslam (Rock/Booker, Angle/Austin, Kane/Undertaker v. DDP/Kane)
557565,000
558
559Unforgiven (Angle/Austin, Rock v. Booker/Shane)
560350,000
561
562No Mercy (Austin/Angle, Jericho/Rock)
563325,000
564
565Survivor Series (Team WWF v. Team WCW with Rock/Jericho/Undertaker/Show/Kane v. Austin/Angle/Shane/Booker/RVD)
566450,000
567
568Vengeance (Unification tournament with Austin/Angle and Jericho/Rock respectively)
569315,000
570
571 
572
5732002
574
575 
576
577Royal Rumble (Jericho/Rock, Flair/Vince in street fight)
578
579Approximately 670,000
580
581No Way Out (Jericho/Austin, nWo returns, Angle/HHH, Rock/Undertaker)
582575,000
583
584Wrestlemania XVIII (Rock/Hogan, HHH/Jericho, Austin/Hall, Undertaker/Flair)
585Approximately 860,000 6
586
587Backlash (Hogan/HHH, Undertaker/Austin)
588400,000
589
590Judgment Day (Undertaker/Hogan, HHH/Jericho in HIAC, Austin v. Show/Flair in handicap)
591373,000
592
593King of the Ring (Undertaker/HHH, Angle/Hogan)
594320,000
595
596Vengeance (Rock/Undertaker/Angle)
597375,000
598
599Summerslam (Lesnar/Rock, HBK returns, HBK/HHH in street fight, Benoit/RVD)
600520,000
601
602Unforgiven (Lesnar/Undertaker, HHH/RVD, Benoit/Angle)
603300,000
604
605No Mercy (Lesnar/Undertaker in HIAC, Angle/Benoit v. Edge/Mysterio, HHH/Kane in World/IC unification)
606300,000
607
608Survivor Series (HBK/HHH/Booker/RVD/Jericho/Kane in EC, Show/Lesnar, Eddie/Chavo v. Angle/Benoit v. Edge/Mysterio)
609340,000
610
611Armageddon (HHH/HBK in 2/3 with street, cage, ladder respectively, Angle/Show, Benoit/Eddie)
612335,000
613
614 
615
6162003
617
618 
619
620Royal Rumble (Angle/Benoit, Steiner/HHH, Lesnar/Show)
621
622585,000
623
624No Way Out (Hogan/Rock, Austin's return, Austin/Bischoff, HHH/Steiner, Lesnar/Benoit v. Team Angle)
625450,000
626
627Wrestlemania XIX (Lesnar/Angle, Rock/Austin, Hogan/McMahon, HHH/Booker, HBK/Jericho)
628560,000 7
629
630Backlash (Goldberg's WWE debut, Goldberg/Rock, HHH/Flair/Jericho v. HBK/Nash/Booker, Lesnar/Cena)
631345,000
632
633Judgment Day (Lesnar/Show in stretcher, Nash/HHH, Hogan as Mr. America/Piper)
634315,000
635
636Bad Blood as Raw PPV (HHH/Nash in HIAC with Foley as SGR, Flair/HBK, Goldberg/Jericho)
637385,000
638
639Vengeance as SD PPV (Angle/Lesnar/Show, Vince/Gowen, Undertaker/Cena, Benoit/Eddie)
640365,000
641
642Summerslam (HHH/Goldberg/HBK/Nash/Orton/Jericho in EC, Kane/RVD, Angle/Lesnar)
643465,000
644
645Unforgiven as Raw PPV (Goldberg/HHH, Kane/Shane in Last Man Standing, Orton/HBK)
646360,000
647
648No Mercy as SD PPV (Lesnar/Undertaker in biker chain, Show/Eddie, Angle/Cena, Vince/Stephanie in I quit)
649275,000
650
651Survivor Series (Goldberg/HHH, Vince/Undertaker in buried alive, Team Jericho v. Team HBK, Kane/Shane in ambulance, Team Angle v. Team Lesnar)
652450,000
653
654Armageddon as Raw PPV (HHH/Goldberg/Kane)
655240,000
656
657 
658
6592004
660
661 
662
663Royal Rumble (HHH/HBK in Last Man Standing, Lesnar/Holly)
664
665500,000
666
667No Way Out (Eddie/Lesnar, Angle/Cena/Show)
668265,000
669
670Wrestlemania XX (Benoit/HHH/HBK, Undertaker/Kane, Eddie/Angle, Goldberg/Lesnar with Austin as SGR, Rock/Foley v. Flair/Orton/Batista)
671885,000
672
673Backlash as Raw PPV (Benoit/HHH/HBK, Edge/Kane, Orton/Foley in I Quit)
674295,000
675
676Judgment Day as SD PPV (Eddie/JBL, Undertaker/Booker)
677235,000
678
679Bad Blood as Raw PPV (HHH/HBK in HIAC, Benoit/Kane)
680290,000
681
682Great American Bash as SD PPV (Undertaker/Dudleys in handicap concrete crypt, JBL/Eddie in bullrope)
683238,000
684
685Vengeance as Raw PPV (Benoit/HHH, Edge/Orton)
686240,000
687
688Summerslam (Orton/Benoit, JBL/Undertaker, HHH/Eugene, Angle/Eddie)
689415,000
690
691Unforgiven as Raw PPV (HHH/Orton, HBK/Kane in No DQ)
692239,000
693
694No Mercy as SD PPV (Undertaker/JBL in last ride, Cena/Booker in Best of 5, Show/Angle)
695183,000
696
697Taboo Tuesday as Raw PPV (Orton/Flair in cage, HHH/HBK)
698174,000
699
700Survivor Series (Team Orton v. Team HHH with GM stip, JBL/Booker, Trish/Lita, Undertaker/Heidenreich, Team Eddie v. Team Angle)
701325,000
702
703Armageddon as SD PPV (JBL/Undertaker/Eddie/Booker in No DQ)
704230,000
705
706 
707
7082005
709
710 
711
712New Year's Resolution as Raw PPV (HHH/Orton/Batista/Benoit/Jericho/Edge in EC, Kane/Snitsky)
713
714Royal Rumble (HHH/Orton, JBL/Angle/Show, Undertaker/Heidenreich in casket, Edge/HBK)
715
716575,000
717
718No Way Out as SD PPV (JBL/Show in barbed wire cage, Cena/Angle)
719240,000
720
721Wrestlemania XXI (Batista/HHH, Cena/JBL, Angle/HBK, Undertaker/Orton, Edge/Benoit/Kane/Christian/Jericho/Benjamin in MITB)
7221,085,000 (650,000 domestic and 435,000 international)
723
724Backlash as Raw PPV (Batista/HHH, Hogan/HBK v. Hassan/Daivari, Edge/Benoit in Last Man Standing)
725320,000
726
727Judgment Day as SD PPV (Cena/JBL in I Quit, Mysterio/Eddie, Booker/Angle)
728260,000
729
730ECW's One Night Stand (Benoit/Eddie with an arbitrary number of ECW stars and matchups happening)
731340,000
732
733Vengeance as Raw PPV (HHH/Batista in HIAC, Cena/Jericho/Christian, HBK/Angle, Kane/Edge)
734420,000
735
736Great American Bash as SD PPV (JBL/Batista, Mysterio/Eddie)
737280,000
738
739Summerslam (Hogan/HBK, Batista/JBL in no holds barred, Cena/Jericho, Orton/Undertaker, Eddie/Mysterio in Ladder)
740650,000
741
742Unforgiven as Raw PPV (Angle/Cena, HBK/Masters, Matt/Edge in cage)
743250,000
744
745No Mercy as SD PPV (Batista/Eddie, Undertaker v. Randy/Bob Orton, JBL/Mysterio)
746230,000
747
748Taboo Tuesday as Raw PPV (Cena/HBK/Angle, Flair/HHH in cage)
749250,000
750
751Survivor Series (Team Smackdown v. Team Raw with Batista/Orton/JBL/Mysterio/Lashley v. HBK/Kane/Show/Carlito/Masters, Cena/Angle, HHH/Flair in Last Man Standing)
752400,000
753
754Armageddon as SD PPV (Undertaker/Orton in HIAC, Kane/Show v. Mysterio/Batista)
755320,000
756
757 
758
7592006
760
761 
762
763New Year's Resolution as Raw PPV (Cena/HBK/Kane/Carlito/Angle/Masters in EC, HHH/Show)
764
765335,000
766
767Royal Rumble (Angle/Henry, Cena/Edge)
768550,000
769
770No Way Out as SD PPV (Angle/Undertaker, Orton/Mysterio)
771220,000
772
773Wrestlemania XXII (Cena/HHH, Mysterio/Angle/Orton, HBK/Vince in no holds barred, Edge/Foley in hardcore, RVD/Matt/Lashley/Flair/Benjamin/Finlay in MITB)
774975,000 (584,000 domestic and 391,000 international)
775
776Backlash as Raw PPV (Cena/HHH/Edge, Michaels v. Vince/Shane in no holds barred)
777220,000
778
779Judgment Day as SD PPV (Mysterio/JBL, Khali/Undertaker, Booker/Lashley in KOTR finals, Henry/Angle)
780252,000
781
782ECW One Night Stand (Cena/RVD, Mysterio/Sabu, Angle/Orton, Edge/Foley/Lita v. Funk/Dreamer/Beulah)
783304,000
784
785Vengeance as Raw PPV (HBK/HHH v. Spirit Squad in handicap, Cena/Sabu in lumberjack, RVD/Edge, Flair/Foley in 2/3, Angle/Orton)
786337,000
787
788Great American Bash as SD PPV (Booker/Mysterio, Kennedy/Batista, Undertaker/Show in Punjabi prison)
789232,000
790
791Summerslam (Edge/Cena where DQ implies title change, HBK/HHH v. Vince/Shane, Batista/Booker, Flair/Foley in I Quit, Hogan/Orton)
792541,000
793
794Unforgiven as Raw PPV (Cena/Edge in TLC with stips, HBK/HHH v. Vince/Shane/Show in HIAC)
795307,000
796
797No Mercy as SD PPV (Booker/Finlay/Lashley/Batista, Benoit/Regal, Mysterio/Chavo in falls count anywhere, Kennedy/Undertaker)
798197,000
799
800Cyber Sunday as Raw PPV (Booker/Cena/Show, Orton/Edge v. DX, Flair/mystery partner v. Spirit Squad)
801228,000
802
803Survivor Series (Batista/Booker, Team Cena v. Team Show, Kennedy/Undertaker in first blood, Team HHH/HBK v. Team Orton/Edge, James/Lita)
804383,000
805
806ECW December to Dismember (Lashley/Show/RVD/Holly/Punk/Test in EC, Hardys/MNM)
80790,000
808
809Armageddon as SD PPV (Batista/Cena v. Booker/Finlay, Undertaker/Kennedy in last ride, London/Kendrick v. MNM v. Hardys v. Regal/Taylor in ladder)
810239,000
811
812 
813
8142007
815
816 
817
818New Year's Resolution as Raw PPV (Cena/Umaga, Edge/Orton v. HHH/HBK)
819
820220,000
821
822Royal Rumble (Cena/Umaga in last man standing, Batista/Kennedy)
823491,000
824
825No Way Out as SD PPV (Cena/HBK v. Undertaker/Batista, Kennedy/Lashley)
826[/indent]218,000[/indent]
827
828Wrestlemania XXIII (Cena/HBK, Lashley/Umaga in for Vince or Trump's hair, Undertaker/Batista, Kennedy/Edge/Punk/Booker/Jeff H/Finlay/Matt/Orton in MITB)
829
8301,250,000 (825,000 domestic and 425,000 international)
831
832Backlash (Cena/HBK/Edge/Orton, Undertaker/Batista in last man standing, Lashley v. Vince/Shane/Umaga)
833194,000
834
835Judgment Day (Cena/Khali, Benoit/MVP in 2/3, Edge/Batista, Orton/HBK, Lashley v. Vince/Shane/Umaga)
836242,000
837
838One Night Stand (Cena/Khali in falls count anywhere, Edge/Batista in cage, Lashley/Vince in street fight, Hardys v. Haas/Benjamin in ladder, Orton/RVD in stretcher)
839186,000
840
841Vengeance (Cena/Foley/Booker/Orton, Edge/Batista in last chance, Nitro/Punk**)
842247,000
843
844Great American Bash (Cena/Lashley, Khali/Batista/Kane, Orton/Dusty in bull rope, Morrison/Punk)
845230,000
846
847Summerslam (Cena/Orton, Batista/Khali, HHH/Booker, Morrison/Punk)
848537,000
849
850Unforgiven (Undertaker/Henry, Cena/Orton, Batista/Khali/Mysterio)
851210,000
852
853No Mercy (New WWE Champion crowned, Batista/Khali in Punjabi prison, HHH/Umaga, Punk/Big Daddy V)
854271,000
855
856Cyber Sunday (Batista/Undertaker with Austin as SGR, HHH/Umaga in street fight, HBK/Orton, Punk/Miz)
857195,000
858
859Survivor Series (Batista/Undertaker in HIAC, Orton/HBK, Team Triple H v. Team Umaga, Punk/Morrison/Miz)
860325,000
861
862Armageddon (Batista/Undertaker/Edge in No DQ, Jericho/Orton, Jeff H/HHH, HBK/Kennedy)
863237,000
864
865 
866
8672008
868
869 
870
871Royal Rumble (Orton/Jeff H, Edge/Mysterio, JBL/Jericho, Flair/MVP with Flair's career)
872
873533,000
874
875No Way Out (HHH/HBK/Jeff H/Jericho/Umaga/JBL in EC, Cena/Orton, Edge/Mysterio, Flair/Kennedy with Flair's career, Undertaker/Batista/Finlay/MVP/Big Daddy V/Khali in EC)
876329,000
877
878Wrestlemania XXIV (Undertaker/Edge, HBK/Flair in career, Cena/Orton/HHH, Mayweather/Show, Batista/Umaga, Punk/Jericho/MVP/Benjamin/Morrison/Carlito/Kennedy in MITB)
8791,041,000 (697,000 domestic and 344,000 international)
880
881Backlash (HHH/Orton/Cena/JBL, Undertaker/Edge, HBK/Batista)
882200,000
883
884Judgment Day (HHH/Orton in cage, Undertaker/Edge, HBK/Jericho)
885252,000
886
887One Night Stand (Edge/Undertaker in TLC, HHH/Orton in last man standing, Batista/HBK in stretcher, Cena/JBL in first blood)
888194,000
889
890Night of Champions (HHH/Cena, Edge/Batista, Henry/Kane/Big Show)
891259,000
892
893Great American Bash (HHH/Edge, JBL/Cena in NYC parking lot brawl, Punk/Batista, Jericho/HBK)
894273,000
895
896Summerslam (Undertaker/Edge in HIAC, Batista/Cena, HHH/Khali, Punk/JBL)
897477,000
898
899Unforgiven (Punk/Batista/Mysterio/Kane/JBL in scramble**, HHH/Jeff H/Kendrick/MVP/Benjamin in scramble, HBK/Jericho in unsanctioned)
900211,000
901
902No Mercy (HBK/Jericho in ladder, HHH/Jeff H, Show/Undertaker, Batista/JBL)
903261,000
904
905Cyber Sunday (Batista/Jericho with Austin as SGR, HHH/Jeff H, Undertaker/Show in last man standing)
906153,000
907
908Survivor Series (Cena's return, Cena/Jericho, Edge/HHH/Kozlov, Team Orton v. Team Batista, Undertaker/Show in casket, Team HBK v. Team JBL)
909319,000
910
911Armageddon (Jeff H/Edge/HHH, Cena/Jericho, Batista/Orton)
912193,000
913
914 
915
9162009
917
918 
919
920Royal Rumble (Edge/Jeff H in no DQ, Cena/JBL)
921
922450,000
923
924No Way Out (Edge/Cena/Mysterio/Kane/Jericho/Knox in EC, HBK/JBL in all or nothing, Orton/Shane in no holds barred, HHH/Edge/Jeff H/Undertaker/Show/Kozlov in EC)
925272,000
926
927Wrestlemania XXV (HHH/Orton, Cena/Edge/Big Show, Undertaker/HBK, Mysterio/JBL, Jericho v. Piper/Snuka/Steamboat in handicap, Punk/Christian/Kane/Kingston/Henry/Finlay/Benjamin/MVP in MITB)
928960,000 (605,000 domestic and 355,000 international)
929
930Backlash (Edge/Cena in last man standing, Orton/Rhodes/DiBiase Jr. v. HHH/Batista/Shane for title, Jeff H/Matt H in I quit, Jericho/Steamboat)
931182,000
932
933Judgment Day (Edge/Jeff H, Cena/Show, Batista/Orton, Mysterio/Jericho)
934228,000
935
936Extreme Rules (Jeff H/Edge in ladder, Cena/Show in submission, Batista/Orton in cage, Punk/Umaga in Samoan strap, Jericho/Mysterio in no holds barred)
937213,000
938
939The Bash (Orton/HHH in three stages of hell, Cena/Miz, Jeff H/Punk, Mysterio/Jericho over title or mask)
940178,000
941
942Night of Champions (Jeff H/Punk, Orton/HHH/Cena, Mysterio/Ziggler)
943267,000
944
945Summerslam (Punk/Jeff H in TLC, Orton/Cena, Christian/Regal, HBK/HHH v. Rhodes/DiBiase Jr., Kane/Khali)
946369,000
947
948Breaking Point (Punk/Undertaker in submission, Cena/Orton in I quit, Christian/Regal, Kane/Khali in Singapore cane, HHH/HBK v. Rhodes/DiBiase Jr.)
949169,000
950
951Hell in a Cell (HHH/HBK v. Rhodes/DiBiase Jr. in HIAC, Orton/Cena in HIAC, Undertaker/Punk in HIAC)
952300,000
953
954Bragging Rights (Cena/Orton in anything goes iron man, Team Smackdown of Jericho/Kane v. Team Raw of HHH/HBK, Undertaker/Batista/Punk/Mysterio)
955200,000
956
957Survivor Series (Cena/HHH/HBK, Undertaker/Show/Jericho, Batista/Mysterio, Team Orton v. Team Kingston)
958225,000
959
960TLC (HHH/HBK v. Jericho/Show in TLC, Undertaker/Batista in chairs, Sheamus/Cena in tables, Orton/Kingston)
961228,000
962
963 
964
9652010
966
967 
968
969Royal Rumble (Undertaker/Mysterio, Sheamus/Orton)
970
971462,000
972
973Elimination Chamber (Jericho/Undertaker/Punk/R-Truth/Morrison/Mysterio in EC, Cena/Sheamus/HHH/Kingston/DiBiase Jr/Orton in EC)
974272,000
975
976Wrestlemania XXVI (Undertaker/HBK in no CO, no DQ, retirement, Cena/Batista, Jericho/Edge, Hart/Vince, Mysterio/Punk, Swagger/Christian/Kane/McIntyre/Ziggler/Benjamin/Matt H/Bourne/Kingston in MITB)
977885,000 (498,000 domestic and 387,000 international)
978
979Extreme Rules (Cena/Batista in last man standing, Edge/Jericho in cage, Sheamus/HHH in street fight, Swagger/Orton in extreme rules, Punk/Mysterio for Punk's hair)
980182,000
981
982Over the Limit (Cena/Batista in I quit, Show/Swagger, Orton/Edge, Mysterio/Punk in hair v. SES)
983197,000
984
985Fatal 4 Way (Sheamus/Cena/Orton/Edge, Mysterio/Swagger/Show/Punk)
986143,000
987
988Money in the Bank (Sheamus/Cena in cage, Miz/Orton/Edge/Jericho/Morrison/Henry/Bourne/DiBiase Jr. in Raw MITB, Mysterio/Swagger, Kane/Kingston/Ziggler/Christian/Rhodes/Matt H/McIntyre/Show in SD MITB)
989162,000
990
991Summerslam (Team WWE w/ Cena v. Team Nexus w/ Barrett, Kane/Mysterio, Orton/Sheamus)
992350,000
993
994Night of Champions (Orton/Sheamus/Cena/Barrett/Edge/Jericho, Kane/Undertaker in no holds barred)
995165,000
996
997Hell in a Cell (Kane/Undertaker in HIAC, Barrett/Cena with Cena's job on the line, Orton/Sheamus in HIAC, Edge/Swagger)
998210,000
999
1000Bragging Rights (Barrett/Orton, Kane/Undertaker in buried alive, Team Smackdown w/ Big Show v. Team Raw w/ Miz)
1001137,000
1002
1003Survivor Series (Orton/Barrett with Cena as SGR, Kane/Edge, Team Mysterio v. Team Rio)
1004244,000
1005
1006TLC (Cena/Barrett in chairs, Edge/Kane/Mysterio/Rio in TLC, Miz/Orton in tables, Morrison/Sheamus in ladder, Ziggler/Swagger/Kingston in ladder)
1007195,000
1008
1009 
1010
10112011
1012
1013 
1014
1015Royal Rumble (Miz/Orton, Edge/Ziggler)
1016
1017446,000
1018
1019Elimination Chamber (Cena/Punk/Morrison/Orton/Sheamus/R-Truth in EC, Miz/Lawler, Edge/Mysterio/Show/Kane/McIntyre/Barrett in EC)
1020200,000
1021
1022Wrestlemania XXVII (Cena/Miz in no DQ and no CO with Rock as guest, Undertaker/HHH in no holds barred, Cole/Lawler with Austin as SGR, Orton/Punk, Edge/Rio, Snooki/Trish/Morrison v. McCool/Layla/Ziggler, Mysterio/Rhodes)
10231,059,000 (617,000 domestic)
1024
1025Extreme Rules (Cena/Miz/Morrison in cage, Christian/Rio in ladder, Mysterio/Rhodes in falls count anywhere, Orton/Punk in last man standing)
1026209,000
1027
1028Over the Limit (Cena/Miz in I quit, Lawler/Cole in kiss my foot, Orton/Christian)
1029142,000
1030
1031Capital Punishment (Cena/R-Truth, Orton/Christian, Punk/Mysterio)
1032170,000
1033
1034Money in the Bank (Cena/Punk, Christian/Orton, Del Rio/Riley/Bourne/Swagger/Kingston/R-Truth/Mysterio/Miz in MITB, Bryan/Rhodes/Slater/Gabriel/Kane/Sheamus/Cara/Barrett in MITB)
1035205,000 (146,000 domestic and 59,000 international)
1036
1037Summerslam (Punk/Cena with HHH as SGR, Orton/Christian in no holds barred)
1038311,000 (180,000 domestic and 131,000 international)
1039
1040Night of Champions (HHH/Punk in no DQ with HHH's COO position on the line, Cena/Rio, Henry/Orton)
1041169,000 (109,000 domestic and 60,000 international)
1042
1043Hell in a Cell (Cena/Punk/Rio in HIAC, Henry/Orton in HIAC)
1044180,000
1045
1046Vengeance (Rio/Cena in last man standing, Henry/Show, Miz/R-Truth v. HHH/Punk)
1047121,000
1048
1049Survivor Series (Rock/Cena v. Miz/R-Truth, Punk/Rio, Show/Henry, Team Barrett v. Team Orton)
1050281,000
1051
1052TLC (Punk/Miz/Rio in TLC, Henry/Show in chairs, Orton/Barrett in tables, Rhodes/Booker)
1053179,000
1054
1055 
1056
10572012
1058
1059 
1060
1061Royal Rumble (Punk/Zigger with Laurinaitis as SGR, Cena/Kane, Bryan/Henry/Show in cage)
1062
1063443,000
1064
1065Elimination Chamber (Cena/Kane in ambulance, Bryan/Marella/Show/Barrett/Rhodes/Khali in EC, Punk/Jericho/R-Truth/Miz/Kingston/Ziggler in EC)
1066178,000
1067
1068Wrestlemania XXVIII (Rock/Cena, HHH/Undertaker in HIAC with HBK as SGR, Punk/Jericho where title can change hands on DQ, Sheamus/Bryan, Rhodes/Show)
10691,253,000 (733,000 domestic and 520,000)
1070
1071Extreme Rules (Cena/Lesnar in extreme rules, Punk/Jericho in Chicago street fight, Sheamus/Bryan in 2/3, Orton/Kane in falls count anywhere, Rhodes/Show in tables)
1072263,000
1073
1074Over the Limit (Cena/Laurinaitis, Punk/Bryan, Sheamus/Rio/Orton/Jericho)
1075167,000
1076
1077No Way Out (Cena/Show in cage with Laurinaitus' job on the line, Punk/Kane/Bryan, Sheamus/Ziggler)
1078194,000
1079
1080Money in the Bank (Cena/Kane/Jericho/Show/Miz in MITB, Punk/Bryan with AJ as SGR, Sheamus/Del Rio)
1081188,000 (104,000 domestic and 84,000 international)
1082
1083SummerSlam
1084358,000 (270,000 domestic and 88,000 international)
1085
1086Night of Champions (Cena/Punk, Sheamus/Del Rio, Orton/Ziggler)
1087189,000 (102,000 domestic and 87,000 international)
1088
1089 
1090
1091 
1092
1093 
1094
10951. WWF claimed 60,000 buys. A source close to Meltzer claimed 43,000 buys.
1096
10972. Before jumping up and down with the thought that anyone citing this list is a credulous imbecile for believing that Wrestlemania IV generated more buys than Wrestlemania III, the television industry was changing rapidly, which largely served as the impetus in the three-way dance between McMahon, Crockett, and Watts, and the subsequent death of the territories. As a corollary to that thought, the PPV universe was rapidly expanding. In effect, this is partly why Wrestlemania XXVIII gets far more buys than any Wrestlemania of the Attitude Era despite the Attitude Era having almost double the viewers than 2012's Raws.
1098
10993. This PPV was an experiment at the idea of running weekly or monthly PPVs. Evidently, the experiment was advised against.
1100
11014. Two conflicting sources claim 625,000 and 675,000.
1102
11036. Two conflicting sources claim 840,000 and 880,000. 840,000 comes from a 2005 Wrestling Observer.
1104
1105 
1106
1107EDIT: I will start excluding matches that certainly shouldn't constitute as a draw over time.
1108
1109Guest Nell Santucci
1110Guest Nell Santucci
1111Guests
1112Report post 
1113Posted July 11, 2012
1114JCP and WCW PPVs
1115
1116 
1117
1118 
1119
1120 
1121
1122 
1123
1124Great American Bash '88 (190,000 buys)
1125
1126Starrcade '88 ("Between 100,000 and 150,000 buys")
1127
1128 
1129
1130 
1131
11321987
1133
1134 
1135
1136Starrcade (Flair/Garvin in cage, Luger/Rhodes in cage, Animal/Hawk v. Arn/Tully, Gibson/Morton v. Eaton/Lane in scaffold)
1137
113820,000 buys1
1139
1140 
1141
11421988
1143
1144 
1145
1146Bunkhouse Stampede (Bunkhouse Stampede in cage, Flair/Hawk)
1147
1148200,000 buys
1149
1150Great American Bash (Flair/Luger, Rhodes/Windham, Team Animal/Hawk v. Team Sullivan/Rotunda in towers of doom)
1151190,000 buys
1152
1153Starrcade (Luger/Flair, Sting/Rhodes v. Animal/Hawk)
1154Approximately 125,000 buys with estimations ranging from 100,000 to 150,000
1155
1156 
1157
11581989
1159
1160 
1161
1162Chi-Town Rumble (Flair/Steamboat, Luger/Windham, Animal/Hawk v. Williams/Sullivan)
1163
1164WrestleWar (Flair/Steamboat, Luger/Hayes, Animal/Hawk v. Williams/Rotundo w/ Nikita as SGR)
1165
1166Great American Bash (Flair/Funk, Animal/Hawk/Eaton/Lane/Williams v. Hayes/Garvin/Gordy/Fatu/Samu in war games, Luger/Steamboat, Sting/Muta, Steiners v. Sullivan/Rotundo in tornado, Cornette/Dangerously in tuxedo)
1167
1168Halloween Havoc (Sting/Flair v. Funk/Muta in thunderdome cage, Luger/Pillman, Doom/Steiners)
1169
1170Starrcade (Sting/Luger/Muta/Flair in singles tournament, Steiners/Doom/Road Warriors/New Wild Samoans in tag tournament)
1171
1172 
1173
1174 
1175
11761990
1177
1178 
1179
1180WrestleWar (Flair/Luger, Steiners v. Ole/Arn, Animal/Hawk v. Callous/Spivey** in Chicago street fight, R&R Express/Midnight Express)
1181
1182Capital Combat (Luger/Flair, Doom/Steiners)
1183
1184Great American Bash (Sting/Flair, Doom/R&R Express)
1185
1186Halloween Havoc (Sting/Sid, Luger/Hansen, Flair/Arn v. Doom)
1187
1188Starrcade (Sting/Scorpion, Doom v. Arn/Windham in street fight, Luger/Hansen in bull rope, International tag team tournament)
1189
1190 
1191
1192 
1193
11941991
1195
1196 
1197
1198WrestleWar (Team Sting v. Team Flair in war games)
1199
1200Superbrawl (Flair/Fujinami, Sting/Luger v. Steiners, Windham/Pillman in taped fist, Sid/Gigante in stretcher)
1201
1202Great American Bash (Luger/Windham, Sting/Nikita in Russian chain)
1203
1204Halloween Havoc (Luger/Simmons in 2/3, Team Sting v. Team Cactus in chamber of horrors, Halloween Havoc revealed)
1205
1206Starrcade (Lethal lottery)
1207
1208 
1209
1210 
1211
12121992
1213
1214 
1215
1216Superbrawl II (Sting/Luger, Rude/Steamboat, Eaton/Anderson v. Steiners, Windham/Dustin v. Austin/Zbyszko, Simmons/Cactus, Pillman/Liger)
1217
1218WrestleWar (Team Sting v. Team Rude in war games, Steiners v. Fujinami/Iizuka)
1219
1220Beach Blast (Sting/Cactus in falls count anywhere, Rude/Steamboat in 30-minute iron man, Steiners v. Gordy/Williams, Dustin/Nikita/Windham v. Austin/Eaton/Anderson)
1221
1222Great American Bash (Sting/Vader, NWA World Tag Team Title tournament)
1223
1224Halloween Havoc (Sting/Roberts in coal miner's glove, Simmons/Barbarian, Windham/Dustin v. Austin/Williams, Rude/Nikita**)
1225
1226Starrcade (Sting/Vader, Chono/Muta, Simmons/Williams, Steamboat/Douglas v. Windham/Rhodes, lethal lottery)
1227
122895,000
1229
1230$1,100,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 01-24-1994 Wrestling Observer
1231
1232 
1233
12341993
1235
1236 
1237
1238Superbrawl III (Sting/Vader in white castle of fear)
1239
124085,000
1241
1242$980,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 04-11-1994 Wrestling Observer
1243
1244Slamboree (Vader/Bulldog)
1245110,000
1246
1247$1,240,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 06-27-1994 Wrestling Observer
1248
1249Beach Blast (Sting/Bulldog v. Sid/Vader, Flair/Windham, Dustin/Rude in iron man)
1250100,000
1251
1252$1,180,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 08-29-1994 Wrestling Observer
1253
1254Fall Brawl (Team Sting/Bulldog v. Team Sid/Vader in war games, Flair/Rude, Steamboat/Regal)
125595,000
1256
1257$1,070,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 10-24-1994 Wrestling Observer
1258
1259Halloween Havoc (Cactus/Vader in Texas death match, Flair/Rude, Sting/Sid)
1260100,000
1261
1262$1,170,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 11-21-1994 Wrestling Observer
1263
1264Battlebowl (no other drawing matches)
126560,000
1266
1267$674,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 12-27-1993 Wrestling Observer
1268
1269Starrcade (Flair/Vader)
1270120,000
1271
1272$1,350,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 01-24-1994 Wrestling Observer
1273
1274 
1275
12761994
1277
1278 
1279
1280Superbrawl IV (Flair/Vader in thundercage, Team Sting v. Team Rude in thundercage, Cactus/Payne v. Nastys)
1281
1282110,000
1283
1284$1,260,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 04-10-1995 Wrestling Observer
1285
1286Spring Stampede (Flair/Steamboat, Sting/Rude, Cactus/Payne v. Nastys in Chicago street fight)
1287125,00
1288
1289$1,370,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 06-05-1995 Wrestling Observer
1290
1291Slamboree (Sting/Vader, Flair/Windham)
1292100,000
1293
1294$1,210,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 07-10-1995 Wrestling Observer
1295
1296Bash at the Beach (Hogan/Flair)
1297225,000
1298
1299$2,580,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 09-11-1995 Wrestling Observer
1300
1301Fall Brawl (Sting/Vader/Angel, Team Dusty/Dustin v. Team Terry/Buck in war games, Cactus/Sullivan in loser leaves WCW)
1302110,000
1303
1304$1,290,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 11-13-1995 Wrestling Observer
1305
1306Halloween Havoc (Hogan/Flair in retirement with Mr. T as special guest referee)
1307220,000
1308
1309$2,500,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 12-18-1995 Wrestling Observer
1310
1311Starrcade (Hogan/Butcher, Sting/Avalanche, Mr. T/Sullivan, Nastys/Heat, Vader/Duggan)
1312 
1313
1314 
1315
13161995
1317
1318 
1319
1320Superbrawl V (Hogan/Vader)
1321
1322215,000
1323
1324$2,450,000 / ($24.95 x .46) from the 04-10-1995 Wrestling Observer
1325
1326Uncensored (Hogan/Vader in strap, Nastys/Heat in Texas tornado, Sting/Rogers, Savage/Avalanche, Dustin/Bully in king of the road)
1327200,000
1328
1329[$2,800,000 / ($27.50 x .46)] x .25 + [$2,800,000 / ($32.50 x .46)] x .75 from the 05-01-1995 Wrestling Observer
1330
1331Slamboree (Hogan/Savage v. Flair/Vader)
1332100,000
1333
1334[$1,460,000 / ($27.50 x .46)] x .25 + [$1,460,000 / ($32.50 x .46)] x .75 from the 07-10-1995 Wrestling Observer
1335
1336Great American Bash (Flair/Savage)
133790,000
1338
1339[$1,320,000 / ($27.50 x .46)] x .25 + [$1,320,000 / ($32.50 x .46)] x .75 from the 08-07-1995 Wrestling Observer
1340
1341Bash at the Beach (Hogan/Vader in cage, Savage/Flair in lifeguard lumberjack)
1342180,000
1343
1344[$2,580,000 / ($27.50 x .46)] x .25 + [$2,580,000 / ($32.50 x. 46)] x .75 from the 09-11-1995 Wrestling Observer
1345
1346Fall Brawl (Hogan/Savage/Sting/Luger v. Meng/Kamala/Zodiac/Shark in war games, Arn/Flair)
134785,000
1348
1349[$1,210,000 / ($27.50 x .46)] x .25 + [$1,210,000 / ($32.50 x. 46)] x .75 from the 11-13-1995 Wrestling Observer
1350
1351Halloween Havoc (Hogan/Giant, Hogan/Giant in sumo monster truck, Savage/Luger, Flair/Sting v. Arn/Flair)
1352120,000
1353
1354[$1,740,000 / ($27.50 x .46)] x .25 + [$1,740,000 / ($32.50 x .46)] x .75 from the 12-18-1995 Wrestling Observer
1355
1356World War 3 (60-man battle royal, Sting/Flair, Luger/Savage)
1357Starrcade (Winner of Flair/Sting/Luger gets title shot against Savage, World Cup tournament)
1358
1359 
1360
1361 
1362
13631996
1364
1365 
1366
1367Superbrawl VI (Hogan/Giant in cage, Flair/Savage in cage, Sting/Luger v. Animal/Hawk, Sullivan/Pillman in I quit strap, Sting/Luger v. Heat, Nastys/PE in street fight)
1368
1369Uncensored (Hogan/Savage v. Flair/Arn/Luger/Sullivan/Barbarian/Meng/Solution/Z-Gangsta in doomsday cage, Sting/Booker v. Animal/Hawk in Chicago street fight)
1370
1371Slamboree (Giant/Sting, Konnan/Liger, lethal lottery)
1372
1373Great American Bash (Giant/Luger, Flair/Arn v. McMichael/Greene, Sting/Regal, Benoit/Sullivan in falls count anywhere, Malenko/Mysterio)
1374
1375Bash at the Beach (Nash/Hall/mystery v. Sting/Luger/Savage, Giant/Sullivan v. Arn/Benoit, Flair/Konnan, Nastys/PE in double dog collar)
1376
1377Hog Wild (Hogan/Giant, Nash/Hall v. Sting/Luger, Steiners/Heat, Benoit/Malenko, Mysterio/Ultimo)
1378
1379Fall Brawl (Hogan/Nash/Hall/Sting (imposter) v. Sting/Luger/Flair/Arn in war games, Savage/Giant, Heat/Nastys)
1380
1381Halloween Havoc (Hogan/Savage, Nash/Hall v. Heat, Benoit/McMichael v. Barbarian/Meng, Giant/Jarrett, Luger/Arn, Page/Eddie, Malenko/Mysterio)
1382
1383World War 3 (60-man battle royal, Nash/Hall v. Nastys v. Meng/Barbarian, Giant/Jarrett, Dragon/Mysterio)
1384
1385Starrcade (Hogan/Piper, Luger/Giant, Page/Eddie, Nash/Hall v. Barbarian/Meng, Jarrett/Benoit, Liger/Mysterio, Dragon/Malenko)
1386
1387 
1388
1389 
1390
13911997
1392
1393 
1394
1395nWo Souled Out (Hogan/Giant, Eddie/Syxx in ladder, Nash/Hall v. Steiners)
1396
1397Superbrawl VII (Hogan/Piper, Benoit/Sullivan in San Francisco death match, Jarrett/McMichael, Eddie/Jericho, Syxx/Malenko, Heat v. PE v. Meng/Barbarian)
1398
1399Uncensored (Team nWo as Hogan/Hall/Nash/Savage v. Team WCW as Giant/Luger/Steiners v. Team Piper as Piper/Benoit/Jarrett/McMichael, Iaukea/Mysterio, Malenko/Eddie)
1400
1401Spring Stampede (Page/Savage in no DQ, Luger/Giant/Booker/Ray, Nash/Rick Steiner, Benoit/Malenko, Mysterio/Dragon)
1402
1403Slamboree (Flair/Piper/Greene v. Nash/Hall/Syxx, McMichael v. Reggie White, Benoit/Meng in death, Malenko/Jarrett)
1404
1405Great American Bash (Savage/Page, Nash/Hall v. Flair/Piper, McMichael/Greene, Benoit/Meng, Steiners/Heat)
1406
1407Bash at the Beach (Hogan/Rodman v. Luger/Giant, Flair/Piper, Savage/Hall v. Page/Hennig, Benoit/Sullivan in retirement, Jarrett/McMichael, Jericho/Dragon)
1408
1409Road Wild (Hogan/Luger, Steiners v. Hall/Nash, Giant/Savage, Hennig/Page, Flair/Syxx, Benoit/McMichael v. Malenko/Jarrett in tag elimination, Konnan/Mysterio in Mexican death)
1410
1411Fall Brawl (Team Nash v. Team Flair/Hennig, Page/Luger v. Hall/Savage, Jarrett/Malenko, Steiners/Heat, Eddie/Jericho)
1412
1413Halloween Havoc (Hogan/Piper in cage, Savage/Page in death, Flair/Hennig, Luger/Hall, Mysterio/Eddie)
1414
1415World War 3 (60-man battle royal, Flair/Hennig, Eddie/Mysterio)
1416
1417Starrcade (Sting/Hogan, Zbyszko/Bischoff with Bret Hart as SGR, Page/Hennig, Bagwell/Luger, Saturn/Benoit, Goldberg/McMichael, Eddie/Malenko)
1418
1419650,000
1420
1421 
1422
14231998
1424
1425 
1426
1427Souled Out (Luger/Savage, Bret/Flair, Nash/Giant, Zybszko/Hall, Jericho/Mysterio, Benoit/Raven, Booker/Martel)
1428
1429Superbrawl VIII (Sting/Hogan, Hall/Nash v. Steiners, Luger/Savage, Page/Benoit, Bulldog/McMichael, Saturn v. winner between Martel/Booker, Jericho/Juventud)
1430
1431Uncensored (Hogan/Savage, Sting/Hall, Bret/Hennig, Giant/Nash, Page/Raven/Benoit, Luger/Scott Steiner, Jericho/Malenko, Juventud/Konnan, Booker/Eddie)
1432
1433Spring Stampede (Savage/Sting, Hogan/Nash v. Giant/Piper in bat match, Rick Steiner/Luger v. Scott Steiner/Bagwell, Raven/Page, Hennig/Bulldog, Booker/Benoit, Goldberg/Saturn)
1434
1435Slamboree (Giant/Sting v. Nash/Hall, Bret/Savage, Page/Raven in cage, Goldberg/Flock**, Eddie/Dragon, Malenko/Jericho, Finlay/Benoit)
1436
1437Great American Bash (Sting/Giant, Piper/Savage, Hogan/Bret v. Savage/Piper, Goldberg/Konnan, Booker/Finlay, Chavo/Eddie, Jericho/Malenko, Booker/Benoit in best of 7)
1438
1439Bash at the Beach (Hogan/Rodman v. Page/Malone, Goldberg/Hennig, Giant/Greene, Booker/Bret, Eddie/Chavo in hair, Mysterio/Jericho, Juventud/Kidman, Raven/Saturn)
1440
1441600,000
1442
1443Road Wild (Hogan/Bischoff v. Page/Leno, battle royal, Juventud/Jericho, Mysterio/Psichosis, Saturn/Raven/Kanyon)
1444Fall Brawl (Page/Piper/Warrior as WCW v. Hogan/Hart/Stevie Ray as Hollywood v. Sting/Luger/Nash as Wolfpac in war games, Konnan/Hall, Malenko/Hennig, Saturn/Raven, Rick Steiner/Scott Steiner, Jericho/Goldberg imposter)
1445
1446Halloween Havoc (Goldberg/Page, Hogan/Warrior, Bret/Sting, Nash/Hall, Rick Steiner/Bagwell v. Giant/Scott Steiner, Jericho/Raven)
1447
1448World War 3 (Page/Bret, 60-man battle royal, Hall/Nash**, Rick Steiner/Scott Steiner, Kidman/Juventud)
1449
1450Starrcade (Goldberg/Nash, Flair/Bischoff, Jericho/Konnan, Kidman/Mysterio/Juventud)
1451
1452 
1453
1454 
1455
14561999
1457
1458 
1459
1460Souled Out (Goldberg/Hall in taser, Flair/David Flair v. Hennig/Windham, Kidman/Psichosis/Mysterio/Juventud, Jericho/Saturn with dress stip, Luger/Konnan)
1461
1462Superbrawl IX (Hogan/Flair, Goldberg/Bigelow, Piper/Hall, Page/Scott Steiner, Nash/Hall v. Mysterio/Konnan for Rey's mask, Hennig/Windham v. Benoit/Malenko, Jericho/Saturn)
1463
1464Uncensored (Flair/Hogan for WCW president stip, Booker/Scott Steiner, Saturn/Jericho in dog collar, Benoit/Malenko v. Hennig/Windham in lumberjack, Nash/Mysterio)
1465
1466Spring Stampede (Hogan/Sting/Page/Flair, Goldberg/Nash, Scott Steiner/Booker, Benoit/Malenko v. Raven/Saturn, Mysterio/Kidman)
1467
1468Slamboree (Nash/Page, Goldberg/Sting, Flair/Piper, Bagwell/Scott Steiner, Booker/Rick Steiner, Benoit/Malenko v. Kidman/Mysterio v. Raven/Saturn)
1469
1470Great American Bash (Nash/Savage, Page/Kanyon v. Benoit/Saturn, Sting/Rick Steiner in no DQ falls count anywhere, Flair/Piper, Konnan/Mysterio v. Hennig/Duncum)
1471
1472Bash at the Beach (Savage/Sid v. Nash/Sting for WCW title stip, Bagwell/Piper in boxing, Page/Kanyon/Bigelow v. Benoit/Saturn)
1473
1474Road Wild (Hogan/Nash in retirement, Savage/Rodman, Sid/Sting, Goldberg/Rick Steiner, Benoit/Page)
1475
1476Fall Brawl (Sting/Hogan, Sid/Benoit)
1477
1478Halloween Havoc (Goldberg/Sid, Flair/Page, Hogan/Sting, Bret/Luger, Rick Steiner/Benoit)
1479
1480Mayhem (WCW World Title tournament with Benoit/Jarrett and Bret/Sting, David Flair/Kimberly, Goldberg/Sid in I quit, Hall/Booker, Vampiro/Berlyn in chain, Bagwell/Hennig in retirement)
1481
1482Starrcade (Goldberg/Bret, Benoit/Jarrett in ladder, Nash/Sid in powerbomb match, Sting/Luger, Page/David Flair, Jarrett/Rhodes in bunkhouse
1483
1484 
1485
1486 
1487
14882000
1489
1490 
1491
1492Souled Out (Benoit/Sid, Nash/Funk, Kidman/Wall in cage, Bagwell/Page in last man standing)
1493
1494Superbrawl X (Sid/Hall/Jarrett in no DQ, Hogan/Luger, Tank/Big Al in skins, Flair/Funk in death match, Kidman/Vampiro)
1495
1496Uncensored (Hogan/Flair in strap, Sid/Jarrett, Sting/Luger in lumberjack, Dustin/Funk in bull rope,
1497
1498Spring Stampede (Jarrett/Page, US title tournament, Tag Team title tournament)
1499
1500Slamboree (Jarrett/Arquette/Page in triple-tier cage, Hogan/Kidman, Sting/Vampiro, Douglas/Flair, Luger/Bagwell)
1501
1502Great American Bash (Jarrett/Nash, Sting/Vampiro in human torch match, Flair/David Flair, Hogan/Kidman, Page/Awesome in ambulance)
1503
1504Bash at the Beach (Booker/Jarrett, Goldberg/Nash, Hogan/Jarrett, Awesome/Scott Steiner)
1505
1506New Blood Rising (Booker/Jarrett, Nash/Hall/Goldberg, Storm/Awesome in Canadian rules match)
1507
1508Fall Brawl (Booker/Nash in cage, Scott Steiner/Goldberg in no DQ, Awesome/Jarrett in bunkhouse, Sting/Muta/Vampiro)
1509
1510Halloween Havoc (Goldberg/Kronik in handicap, Booker/Scott Steiner, Jarrett/Sting)
1511
1512Mayhem (Scott Steiner/Booker in cage, Goldberg/Luger, Nash/Page v. Palumbo/Stasiak, Jarrett/Bagwell)
1513
1514Starrcade (Scott Steiner/Sid, Goldberg/Luger, Nash/Page v. Palumbo/Stasiak, Jarrett/Harris Boys v. Mysterio/Kidman/Konnan in street fight)
1515
1516 
1517
1518 
1519
15202001
1521
1522 
1523
1524SIN (Scott Steiner/Sid/Jarrett/Animal, Luger/Bagwell v. Goldberg/Dwayne Bruce, Douglas/Rection in first blood, Page/Nash v. Palumbo/O'Haire)
1525
1526Superbrawl Revenge (Scott Steiner/Nash, Page/Jarrett, Kanyon/Page)
1527
1528Greed (Scott Steiner/Page, Dusty/Dustin v. Flair/Jarrett, Booker/Rick Steiner)
1529
1530 
1531
1532 
1533
15341. Due to Vince McMahon's Wrestlemania III, which generated approximately 400,000 buys, he pressured PPV providers into dropping NWA's Starrcade by threatening that those said PPV providers could not carry the 1987 Survivor Series simultaneously, which wound up generating 325,000 buys. Consequently, 1987's Starrcade only had clearance in four PPV markets. This event, along with a complicated deal involving the buyout of Watts' UWF, would be the critical blow causing Crockett to sell JCP to Turner.
1535
1536 
1537
1538 
1539
1540* Editing list over time
1541
1542Guest Nell Santucci
1543Guest Nell Santucci
1544Guests
1545Report post 
1546Posted July 11, 2012
1547Misc. (ECW, ROH, TNA, et cetera)
1548
1549JerryvonKramer
1550JerryvonKramer
1551DVDVR 80s Project
155211412 posts
1553Report post 
1554Posted July 11, 2012
1555This seems like a good thing to me. One thought I had: what are records like for PPV buys outside of wrestling? Boxing say. Might be nice to verify Meltzer's figures with that in any given year to find the total no. PPV households.
1556
1557 
1558
1559PS. Phil, tiny point but technically, Dibiase was captain in SS 89, and there was a brief Ted/Zeus angle going in. Argument to say SS90 was sold as much on Hogan's match as Warrior's too.
1560
1561 
1562
1563EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-view#HBO_PPV
1564
1565 
1566
1567A lot of boxing and UFC results there.
1568
1569Jingus
1570Jingus
1571Banned
15722568 posts
1573Report post 
1574Posted July 11, 2012
1575  Nell Santucci said:
1576First, I want to compliment the amazing forum posters here. The depth of knowledge that posters have is amazing. In attempting to research a particular point (buyrates under Vince Russo's WCW), I came to the startling fact that has long been known, namely that buyrate percentages are meaningless without knowing the size of the PPV universe. In fact, I'm almost of the feeling that they're of limited utility.
1577
1578Same thing goes for TV ratings. I've recently started wondering if industry types don't hang onto these archaic and confusing percentage-based stats because they want the process to be difficult for outsiders to understand.
1579Bix
1580Bix
1581DVDVR 80s Project
15826273 posts
1583Report post 
1584Posted July 11, 2012
1585I was actually going to bring this up myself today after a discussion with a BR writer about how the onlne resources generally have buy rate percentages for older shows as opposed to actual buys.
1586
1587 
1588
1589I think we have access to enough old PW Torch and WON back issues to get it done, but it would be easiest if a bunch of us chipped in with some work for specific shows. Also, for each WrestleMania where it would be applicable, we should also include CCTV numbers.
1590
1591jdw
1592jdw
1593Members
15947878 posts
1595Report post 
1596Posted July 11, 2012
1597  Jingus said:
1598Same thing goes for TV ratings. I've recently started wondering if industry types don't hang onto these archaic and confusing percentage-based stats because they want the process to be difficult for outsiders to understand.
1599
1600I tend to think both are useful. For example, lets take this wild hypothetical:
1601
1602 
1603
1604126M final American Idol Ever!
1605
1606125M Mash Finale
1607
1608 
1609
1610Ergo, the final of American Idol was wildly more popular than the final of Mash!
1611
1612 
1613
1614Except...
1615
1616 
1617
1618One was 1983. The other would be 30+ years later. There are 80M+ more people in the country.
1619
1620 
1621
16221983: 233,791,994
1623
16242012: 313,924,728
1625
1626 
1627
1628125M/234M > 126M/314M
1629
1630 
1631
1632John Rockefeller was richer when he was a billionaire than Vince was when he was a billionaire, even if the "raw numbers" were remotely close. $1B when a hell of a lot further in 1916 than 2010.
1633
1634 
1635
1636So "rates" do have value over raw numbers.
1637
1638 
1639
1640John
1641
1642Guest Nell Santucci
1643Guest Nell Santucci
1644Guests
1645Report post 
1646Posted July 11, 2012
1647  Bix said:
1648I was actually going to bring this up myself today after a discussion with a BR writer about how the onlne resources generally have buy rate percentages for older shows as opposed to actual buys.
1649
1650 
1651
1652I think we have access to enough old PW Torch and WON back issues to get it done, but it would be easiest if a bunch of us chipped in with some work for specific shows. Also, for each WrestleMania where it would be applicable, we should also include CCTV numbers.
1653
1654I agree, though I found that PWTorch tended to not give buys for most PPV for some reason. (That, or I couldn't find any.) We can surely make this inclusive as possible. Once I get the PPVs done in a few days (exhausting), I'll put up what I know as well.
1655
1656 
1657
1658  Quote
1659By JerryvonKramer
1660
1661 
1662
1663PS. Phil, tiny point but technically, Dibiase was captain in SS 89, and there was a brief Ted/Zeus angle going in. Argument to say SS90 was sold as much on Hogan's match as Warrior's too.
1664
1665Good points. I chose Team Hogan v. Team Zeus because that seemed to be their drawing card from Summerslam 1989, with the Survivor Series being the blowoff; and, DiBiase was thrown in the mix, who had hit midcard status by 1989. But I can correct this.
1666
1667 
1668
1669Concerning Team Warrior v. Team Perfect, that indeed would have been the B main event. Before 1990, it seemed always clear what was the one and only draw. As I continued down the list, I realized that it was more often than not the case that there could be two drawing matches (and possibly three). For example, this year's Wrestlemania, when it gets listed, will have Cena/Rock, Triple H/Undertaker, and Punk/Jericho as the three draws.
1670
1671 
1672
1673But my initial skepticism of making Team Warrior v. Team Perfect as one of the drawing cards involved a historical analysis on Perfect, namely that as excellent of a performer he was in 1990 and 1991, there was never a point, looking back, where the WWF was going to push him as a main event act. I developed this conclusion after someone asked me if there is any truth to the idea that Mr. Perfect was going to win the 1990 Royal Rumble. I gave a lengthy analysis, but the general selling points were the following: (i) Faces always closed main events, (ii) He didn't draw against Hogan whereas Big Boss Man did, i.e. it would be easier to make a case for Boss Man to get a short run over Perfect, (iii) He lost virtually every feud he was in from Hogan to Bret Hart by losing to Beefcake on a nightly basis, getting squashed at 1990 Summerslam like he was the Honky Tonk Man, and losing by DQs to Boss Man. Furthermore, the royal rumble match still wasn't that important as a draw, and I feel like many are projecting their post-1992 notions of the rumble onto 1990's match when winning the rumble in itself wasn't that important - which is to say that even if Perfect won it, it wouldn't have put him in the title picture since he was already in the title picture before the rumble. Finally, February's Main Event (arguably much more important than the rumble) was set as Hogan/Savage, not Hogan/Perfect. I don't think Vince ever had plans to push Perfect into the World Title picture after Hogan/Perfect didn't turn business around. Add to Perfect jobbing everywhere, it was difficult for me to see Team Warrior v. Team Perfect as anything remotely competitive enough to be a draw and that the heat there was somewhat lacking. But if I am to use intelligent booking as a necessary condition for qualifying as a drawing card on a PPV, then why does Mabel/Diesel qualify? It wouldn't. That was about as badly thrown together of a match as I can think of.
1674
1675 
1676
1677So you're right, but I wanted to list my reasons. But I do reject the notion that there is only one such main event as I think Meltzer has a habit of doing. The whole package, with PPVs being A-shows or not, the main events, and unique match ups that resolve a long-term storyline problem (like Undertaker/Kane at Wrestlemania XIV) are part of the drawing package.
1678
1679NintendoLogic
1680Grim and frostbitten
1681NintendoLogic
1682Members
16834179 posts
1684Report post 
1685Posted July 11, 2012
1686Yeah, rates have value in terms of putting the size of the PPV universe in perspective. But the number of buys hasn't increased in proportion with the number of households wired for PPV, which is why nobody looks at percentages anymore.
1687
1688Guest Nell Santucci
1689Guest Nell Santucci
1690Guests
1691Report post 
1692Posted July 11, 2012
1693  jdw said:
1694  Jingus said:
1695Same thing goes for TV ratings. I've recently started wondering if industry types don't hang onto these archaic and confusing percentage-based stats because they want the process to be difficult for outsiders to understand.
1696
1697I tend to think both are useful. For example, lets take this wild hypothetical:
1698
1699 
1700
1701126M final American Idol Ever!
1702
1703125M Mash Finale
1704
1705 
1706
1707Ergo, the final of American Idol was wildly more popular than the final of Mash!
1708
1709 
1710
1711Except...
1712
1713 
1714
1715One was 1983. The other would be 30+ years later. There are 80M+ more people in the country.
1716
1717 
1718
17191983: 233,791,994
1720
17212012: 313,924,728
1722
1723 
1724
1725125M/234M > 126M/314M
1726
1727 
1728
1729John Rockefeller was richer when he was a billionaire than Vince was when he was a billionaire, even if the "raw numbers" were remotely close. $1B when a hell of a lot further in 1916 than 2010.
1730
1731 
1732
1733So "rates" do have value over raw numbers.
1734
1735 
1736
1737John
1738
1739 
1740
1741I can agree with that, though this makes me wonder a broader, more disturbing hypothesis that some might kill me for pushing. WWE can at times get around 5 million viewers for Raw. I don't remember what that would have amounted to in 1999, but I think a 4.5 rating would be in the ballpark. If that is true, knowing that the WWE is failing in the teenage demographic, and knowing that the viewer's average age of Raw is around 40 (contrary to Cena's condescending claim of 9), do you think it is possible that WWE retained about 2/3rd of their Attitude Era audience but have failed in getting new viewers under the age of 18 over the last decade or so? That seems remote at first but adjusting some numbers, one can make a plausible case for that.
1742
1743Boondocks Kernoodle
1744Boondocks Kernoodle
1745Members
17461012 posts
1747Report post 
1748Posted July 11, 2012
1749I'll start you off with Wrestling Classic. WWF claimed 60,000 buys, but Dave at the time said he heard from another source that it was 43k. I read a while ago that Mania 2 did 100k, but I'm not sure about that.
1750
1751jdw
1752jdw
1753Members
17547878 posts
1755Report post 
1756Posted July 11, 2012
1757  NintendoLogic said:
1758Yeah, rates have value in terms of putting the size of the PPV universe in perspective. But the number of buys hasn't increased in proportion with the number of households wired for PPV, which is why nobody looks at percentages anymore.
1759
1760I agree with that. I think having *both* would be useful. The "buyrate" for Mania III, Mania IV and Mania V are monstrous relative to later buyrates. It just happened to be a small universe. But still, having both the Buys and the Buyrates are useful to see where changes have happened.
1761
1762 
1763
1764John
1765
1766Guest Nell Santucci
1767Guest Nell Santucci
1768Guests
1769Report post 
1770Posted July 11, 2012
1771  Boondocks Kernoodle said:
1772I'll start you off with Wrestling Classic. WWF claimed 60,000 buys, but Dave at the time said he heard from another source that it was 43k. I read a while ago that Mania 2 did 100k, but I'm not sure about that.
1773
1774Thanks. I'll add that number. Do you know if Meltzer's source was Zane Bresloff? It seemed like most of Meltzer's inside information vis-a-vis WWF's numbers came from him. I'll certainly add both numbers but would like to note that 43 is much more likely. I recall on Wrestling Classics there being a discussion on who remembered Wrestling Classic being promoted, and hardly no one did. At the time, it seems clear that the WWF was not only testing the PPV waters but also hardly grasped its full potential. They were still stuck on selling house shows until Nov. 1987 when it became clear that Crockett was intent on competing in the same market.
1775
1776 
1777
1778The following link seems very plausible: http://www.the-coli.com/tsc/6747-wwf-e-ppv...ml#.T_4AsvUtcv- [.] This link argues Wrestlemania II did 250,000 buys. Supposing that Wrestling Classics did around 50k (which is roughly the average of the WWF's claim and Meltzer's source) and knowing that Wrestling Classics had to be poorly promoted since most viewers of the time have no memory of it, it seems more likely that Wrestlemania II did 250,000 than 100,000. But I'm lost on that and might shoot an e-mail to Meltzer if I can't find a more accurate number by the end of this project.
1779
1780Charles (Loss)
1781Charles (Loss)
1782Admins
178344846 posts
1784Report post 
1785Posted July 12, 2012
1786For JCP:
1787
1788 
1789
1790Starrcade '87 (20,000 buys) (Only had PPV clearance in 4 markets)
1791
1792Bunkhouse Stampede '88 (200,000 buys)
1793
1794Great American Bash '88 (190,000 buys)
1795
1796Starrcade '88 ("Between 100,000 and 150,000 buys")
1797
1798 
1799
1800More later.
1801
1802goodhelmet
1803goodhelmet
1804Admins
180518833 posts
1806Report post 
1807Posted July 12, 2012
1808I have always found this topic fascinating.
1809
1810 
1811
1812Also, I read somewhere that Carnegie at his peak in today's dollars would be worth about 300 billion. Rockefeller would be worth about 200 billion.
1813
1814Guest Nell Santucci
1815Guest Nell Santucci
1816Guests
1817Report post 
1818Posted July 12, 2012
1819  goodhelmet said:
1820I have always found this topic fascinating.
1821
1822 
1823
1824Also, I read somewhere that Carnegie at his peak in today's dollars would be worth about 300 billion. Rockefeller would be worth about 200 billion.
1825
1826I am very happy to hear that. Let's surely start a revolution to unify pro-wrestling knowledge and rescue this study from the Wiki marks who cite biased WWE DVDs as claims to knowledge whilst deriding Dave Meltzer as some WWE-hating liar. Furthermore, this is just a great resource to have because I find going off the house show model to be inaccurate in the 90s concerning who was drawing better than who for two primary reasons. First, estimated attendance is largely unavailable and can never be known. Second, I believe people started attending house shows in the 90s more for general casual interest, which could mean anything, over seeing a particular main event act; i.e., using house show attendance to determine who drew better between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels wouldn't say much whereas the PPV model could say a lot more. In other words, all house show attendance does is speak for the general vitality of the promotion but not for any one act per se. I feel the same way about television ratings for the most part and feel it's an archaic relic of the Monday Night Wars that really only the WWE and advertisers should care for on a week-by-week basis, and historians and journalists should only care on a quarter-by-quarter basis except for, say, the Road to Wrestlemania run (which meant nothing this year, evidently, as Rock/Cena did a much better number than Cena/Miz, despite Cena/Miz doing far better Road to Wrestlemania numbers; but we know the story, namely that the rating average does not imply revenue but only revenue potential, which is the great Vince Russo Fallacy.)
1827
1828JNLister
1829JNLister
1830Members
1831359 posts
1832Report post 
1833Posted July 13, 2012
1834I think you've probably got all this in the edited original post now, but here's a list I put together a few months back for the Mania shows. I think they all came directly or indirectly from the Observer:
1835
1836 
1837
1838o WrestleMania 1 - 398,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and literally a handful on PPV.
1839
1840o WrestleMania 2 - 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.
1841
1842o WrestleMania III - 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV
1843
1844o WrestleMania IV - 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV
1845
1846o WrestleMania V - 767,000
1847
1848o WrestleMania VI - 550,000
1849
1850o WrestleMania VII - 400,000
1851
1852o WrestleMania VIII - 360,000
1853
1854o WrestleMania IX - 430,000
1855
1856o WrestleMania X - 420,000
1857
1858o WrestleMania XI - 340,000
1859
1860o WrestleMania XII - 290,000
1861
1862o WrestleMania 13 - 237,000
1863
1864o WrestleMania XIV - 730,000
1865
1866o WrestleMania XV - 800,000
1867
1868o WrestleMania 2000 - 824,000
1869
1870o WrestleMania X-Seven - 1,040,000 (950,000 domestic)
1871
1872o WrestleMania X8 - 880,000 (domestic/intl split unknown)
1873
1874o WrestleMania XIX - 560,000 (north america only?)
1875
1876o WrestleMania XX - 885,000 (WWE figure, lower than that on the original version of this list) ( (domestic/intl split unknown)
1877
1878o WrestleMania 21 - 1,085,000 (approx 650,000 domestic)
1879
1880o WrestleMania 22 - 975,000 (approx 584,000 domestic)
1881
1882o WrestleMania 23 - 1,250,000 (825,000 domestic)
1883
1884o WrestleMania XXIV - 1,041,000 (697,000 domestic)
1885
1886o WrestleMania XXV - 960,000 (605,000 domestic)
1887
1888o WrestleMania XXVI - 885,000 (498,000 domestic)
1889
1890o WrestleMania XXVII - 1,042,000 (617,000 domestic)
1891
1892 
1893
1894For reference, 21 was the first show on PPV in the UK, which will have added a fair chunk to the international figure.
1895
1896goc
1897A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
1898goc
1899Members
19007478 posts
1901Location:Virginia
1902Report post 
1903Posted July 14, 2012
1904To help out with this project, I have uploaded on old set of Wrestling Observer scans that I found onto XWT-Classics.net They range from 1984-1991 with 1985-1991 looking to be every issue from those years.
1905
1906Guest Nell Santucci
1907Guest Nell Santucci
1908Guests
1909Report post 
1910Posted July 14, 2012
1911  goc said:
1912To help out with this project, I have uploaded on old set of Wrestling Observer scans that I found onto XWT-Classics.net They range from 1984-1991 with 1985-1991 looking to be every issue from those years.
1913
1914You deserve many, many thanks for this. Those archives will surely aid in furthering other projects, if not this one.
1915
1916JerryvonKramer
1917JerryvonKramer
1918DVDVR 80s Project
191911412 posts
1920Report post 
1921Posted July 14, 2012
1922goc = hero. Amazing.
1923
1924Jmare007
1925Jmare007
1926Members
19272218 posts
1928Report post 
1929Posted July 16, 2012
1930Awesome idea.
1931
1932 
1933
1934I'm the guy who did that thread in the-coli :) . Pre-2000 is very difficult to know what numbers are 100% credible. Hell, most of the ones I've got from the Observer change from time to time too (I've seen Dave report Wrestlemania V doing 780,000 - 767,000 and like 725,000 buys for example).
1935
1936 
1937
1938Nowadays you get like 2 or 3 reports for the same PPV and it's never is the same number :lol:. I tried to always put the latest information on every show, but I'm sure there's a couple of PPVs were there is more updated info.
1939
1940 
1941
1942 
1943
1944 
1945
1946 
1947
1948When it comes to ECW, I remember listening to Dave Lagana's podcast were he told that they were doing between 90,000 and 60,000 buys at their peak.
1949
1950Jmare007
1951Jmare007
1952Members
19532218 posts
1954Report post 
1955Posted August 5, 2012
1956  Quote
1957In their 2012 second quarter earnings, WWE released the official buyrate for every pay-per-view in the quarter. The numbers are as follows with the previous year in parenthesis:
1958
1959 
1960
1961Wrestlemania XXVIII – 1,217,000 buys (compared to 1,059,000 last year)
1962
1963Extreme Rules – 263,000 buys (compared to 209,000 last year)
1964
1965Over the Limit – 167,000 buys (compared to 140,000 last year)
1966
1967No Way Out – 194,000 buys (compared to 170,000 last year as Capitol Punishment)
1968
1969Guest Nell Santucci
1970Guest Nell Santucci
1971Guests
1972Report post 
1973Posted August 5, 2012
1974  Jmare007 said:
1975  Quote
1976In their 2012 second quarter earnings, WWE released the official buyrate for every pay-per-view in the quarter. The numbers are as follows with the previous year in parenthesis:
1977
1978 
1979
1980Wrestlemania XXVIII – 1,217,000 buys (compared to 1,059,000 last year)
1981
1982Extreme Rules – 263,000 buys (compared to 209,000 last year)
1983
1984Over the Limit – 167,000 buys (compared to 140,000 last year)
1985
1986No Way Out – 194,000 buys (compared to 170,000 last year as Capitol Punishment)
1987
1988Thanks a ton. This will be added in a minute. I do want to add that it's bizarre No Way Out did a much better number compared to Over the Limit just because of Orton's suspension and Ziggler being the last minute replacement with virtually no build and with the perception that Ziggler is a JTTS anyway.
1989
1990JerryvonKramer
1991JerryvonKramer
1992DVDVR 80s Project
199311412 posts
1994Report post 
1995Posted August 5, 2012
1996Neil - are you doing buys for NWA / WCW events too?
1997
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2031 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
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2033Guest The Jiz
2034A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
2035By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
2036 PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT  Page 2 of 7  
2037Guest Nell Santucci
2038Guest Nell Santucci
2039Guests
2040Report post 
2041Posted August 5, 2012
2042  JerryvonKramer said:
2043Neil - are you doing buys for NWA / WCW events too?
2044
2045I plan on doing everything I listed, but it's a question of finding definitive numbers.
2046
2047Matt D
20484:40
2049Matt D
2050Members
205111791 posts
2052Report post 
2053Posted August 5, 2012
2054I don't get why WM IX was so high relative to VIII and even VII. Was it because Hogan was somehow fresh again? They had just lost Warrior and DBS. Were people so into Luger/Hennig, Doink/Crush, and Hart/Yoko? Michaels/Tatanka? Was there boost because of Raw's debut back in January? VIII was much more stacked card with Sid/Hogan, Flair/Savage, Piper/Hart, Jake/Taker, Diasters/Money Inc. And VII was super stacked relatively. Were just more houses PPV-ready in 93? I can buy that.
2055
2056JerryvonKramer
2057JerryvonKramer
2058DVDVR 80s Project
205911412 posts
2060Report post 
2061Posted August 5, 2012
2062Reckon it was the awesome job Sean Mooney did on the countdown show.
2063
2064Jingus
2065Jingus
2066Banned
20672568 posts
2068Report post 
2069Posted August 5, 2012
2070What was IX's number? It's not on the list here.
2071
2072 
2073
2074IV being considerably higher than III surprised me. And the first Summerslam did an even bigger number. Does more houses being wired for PPV explain that? It's funny how WWE looks back on Wrestlemania III as their crowning glory, yet they never mention IV despite it being a larger success (or V's MUCH larger success).
2075
2076Ricky Jackson
2077The Only 5 Time Champion
2078Ricky Jackson
2079Members
20803541 posts
2081Location:The Vancouver Territory
2082Report post 
2083Posted August 5, 2012
2084Way more ppv homes for IV than III. III's buy rate was way higher--still the highest ever.
2085
2086JerryvonKramer
2087JerryvonKramer
2088DVDVR 80s Project
208911412 posts
2090Report post 
2091Posted August 5, 2012
2092  Matt D said:
2093I don't get why WM IX was so high relative to VIII and even VII. Was it because Hogan was somehow fresh again? They had just lost Warrior and DBS. Were people so into Luger/Hennig, Doink/Crush, and Hart/Yoko? Michaels/Tatanka? Was there boost because of Raw's debut back in January? VIII was much more stacked card with Sid/Hogan, Flair/Savage, Piper/Hart, Jake/Taker, Diasters/Money Inc. And VII was super stacked relatively. Were just more houses PPV-ready in 93? I can buy that.
2094
2095It does seem weird that Hogan vs. Sid would be over 200,000 buys less compelling than Hogan / Beefcake vs. Money Inc.
2096
2097 
2098
2099Even more weird that Bret / Yoko should outdraw Savage / Flair.
2100
2101 
2102
2103Has to be an external reason. Either that or Mike Rotunda is a bigger draw than Flair, Savage and Sid.
2104
2105Jmare007
2106Jmare007
2107Members
21082218 posts
2109Report post 
2110Posted August 5, 2012
2111  Jingus said:
2112What was IX's number? It's not on the list here.
2113
2114JNLister posted it in this thread
2115
2116 
2117
2118  JNLister said:
2119I think you've probably got all this in the edited original post now, but here's a list I put together a few months back for the Mania shows. I think they all came directly or indirectly from the Observer:
2120
2121 
2122
2123o WrestleMania 1 - 398,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and literally a handful on PPV.
2124
2125o WrestleMania 2 - 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.
2126
2127o WrestleMania III - 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV
2128
2129o WrestleMania IV - 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV
2130
2131o WrestleMania V - 767,000
2132
2133o WrestleMania VI - 550,000
2134
2135o WrestleMania VII - 400,000
2136
2137o WrestleMania VIII - 360,000
2138
2139o WrestleMania IX - 430,000
2140
2141o WrestleMania X - 420,000
2142
2143o WrestleMania XI - 340,000
2144
2145o WrestleMania XII - 290,000
2146
2147o WrestleMania 13 - 237,000
2148
2149o WrestleMania XIV - 730,000
2150
2151o WrestleMania XV - 800,000
2152
2153o WrestleMania 2000 - 824,000
2154
2155o WrestleMania X-Seven - 1,040,000 (950,000 domestic)
2156
2157o WrestleMania X8 - 880,000 (domestic/intl split unknown)
2158
2159o WrestleMania XIX - 560,000 (north america only?)
2160
2161o WrestleMania XX - 885,000 (WWE figure, lower than that on the original version of this list) ( (domestic/intl split unknown)
2162
2163o WrestleMania 21 - 1,085,000 (approx 650,000 domestic)
2164
2165o WrestleMania 22 - 975,000 (approx 584,000 domestic)
2166
2167o WrestleMania 23 - 1,250,000 (825,000 domestic)
2168
2169o WrestleMania XXIV - 1,041,000 (697,000 domestic)
2170
2171o WrestleMania XXV - 960,000 (605,000 domestic)
2172
2173o WrestleMania XXVI - 885,000 (498,000 domestic)
2174
2175o WrestleMania XXVII - 1,042,000 (617,000 domestic)
2176
2177 
2178
2179For reference, 21 was the first show on PPV in the UK, which will have added a fair chunk to the international figure.
2180
2181;)
2182
2183Jingus
2184Jingus
2185Banned
21862568 posts
2187Report post 
2188Posted August 5, 2012
2189Thanks. In hindsight, the original list should probably be amended to include buyrate percentages as well. You really need both numbers (along with how much the show cost) to understand how well any given PPV did compared to all the others.
2190
2191 
2192
2193And it's also weird that X did better than VII and VIII, considering the traditional wisdom that the guys who followed Hogan couldn't draw better than him.
2194
2195JerryvonKramer
2196JerryvonKramer
2197DVDVR 80s Project
219811412 posts
2199Report post 
2200Posted August 5, 2012
2201Pretty sure we didn't have PPVs in the UK until surprisingly recently. We'd get them "free", essentially, if you had the right subscription channel.
2202
2203 
2204
2205That accounts for the jump in the 00s if the same is true of other countries.
2206
2207Ricky Jackson
2208The Only 5 Time Champion
2209Ricky Jackson
2210Members
22113541 posts
2212Location:The Vancouver Territory
2213Report post 
2214Posted August 5, 2012
2215Mania X was the first time you could order a PPV from home in Canada, or at least in the Calgary area. So that probably bumped the overall # up a bit.
2216
2217Guest Nell Santucci
2218Guest Nell Santucci
2219Guests
2220Report post 
2221Posted August 5, 2012
2222  Jingus said:
2223Thanks. In hindsight, the original list should probably be amended to include buyrate percentages as well. You really need both numbers (along with how much the show cost) to understand how well any given PPV did compared to all the others.
2224
2225 
2226
2227And it's also weird that X did better than VII and VIII, considering the traditional wisdom that the guys who followed Hogan couldn't draw better than him.
2228
2229I have not included the buyrate number because, frankly, I don't think those numbers have much meaning when I did some naive, linear math on it. It's detailed in the first post. There is something a tad bit bizarre with how those numbers work. Maybe I'm missing something.
2230
2231Jingus
2232Jingus
2233Banned
22342568 posts
2235Report post 
2236Posted August 6, 2012
2237It's important because it shows how many people could have ordered the show and chose not to. A hundred thousand buys in 1987 is a lot more impressive than a hundred thousand buys today, because the total number of households that receive PPVs is so much higher.
2238
2239JNLister
2240JNLister
2241Members
2242359 posts
2243Report post 
2244Posted August 6, 2012
2245In the UKFF thread we noticed the weirdness of IX bucking the trend. However, judging by the buyrate (the percentage figure) it seems there was a very significant increase in PPV availability between VIII. That would explain the sudden leap in raw number of buys and if you take that out, you're left with a consistent pattern of decline from 1989 to 1997, which certainly fits in with the popularity of the product as a whole.
2246
2247 
2248
2249Why the PPV universe grew so much I'm not sure -- the only notable change I can find is Request TV adding satellite rather than just being cable.
2250
2251Bix
2252Bix
2253DVDVR 80s Project
22546273 posts
2255Report post 
2256Posted August 6, 2012
2257  JNLister said:
2258In the UKFF thread we noticed the weirdness of IX bucking the trend. However, judging by the buyrate (the percentage figure) it seems there was a very significant increase in PPV availability between VIII. That would explain the sudden leap in raw number of buys and if you take that out, you're left with a consistent pattern of decline from 1989 to 1997, which certainly fits in with the popularity of the product as a whole.
2259
2260 
2261
2262Why the PPV universe grew so much I'm not sure -- the only notable change I can find is Request TV adding satellite rather than just being cable.
2263
2264Around that time, Cablevision made a pretty big change to their system in terms of adding a bunch of new channels and renting out new boxes...maybe it was an industry-wide thing that led a lot of customers to start renting the descrambler boxes? It's only in the last few years that the boxes became something that the CableCos required all customers to rent and thus the PPV universe stopped growing.
2265Jmare007
2266Jmare007
2267Members
22682218 posts
2269Report post 
2270Posted August 6, 2012
2271  Jingus said:
2272It's important because it shows how many people could have ordered the show and chose not to. A hundred thousand buys in 1987 is a lot more impressive than a hundred thousand buys today, because the total number of households that receive PPVs is so much higher.
2273
2274yeah, but if we don't even know the estimate of how many households could get PPV, there's not a lot we can get from the buyrate percentages.
2275
2276Guest Nell Santucci
2277Guest Nell Santucci
2278Guests
2279Report post 
2280Posted August 7, 2012
2281  Jingus said:
2282It's important because it shows how many people could have ordered the show and chose not to. A hundred thousand buys in 1987 is a lot more impressive than a hundred thousand buys today, because the total number of households that receive PPVs is so much higher.
2283
2284Did you read my first post? I already go over this. I don't think the percentage is a percentage at all. I show reasons for this. There is something nonlinear at work because I don't believe the numbers vary that much. But it's not that interesting of a topic for now because I want people to see the absolute buys and not the relative buyrates, which is available. If we decide to unify all this, say a year from now, then we can do that then. But for now, I'm interesting in absolute buys, as are many other people. One reason for this is because those numbers simply aren't available outside of old Wrestling Observers. (I don't believe PWTorch ever released absolute numbers or even buyrates often.)
2285
2286Charles (Loss)
2287Charles (Loss)
2288Admins
228944846 posts
2290Report post 
2291Posted August 7, 2012
2292I've looked through WONs from '89 trying to find the number of buys for some shows, and it's proven very difficult. My hope was to provide hard numbers for WCW/NWA, but they just aren't there. Dave didn't even always report on the buyrates, sometimes just mentioning it in passing 12-18 months later.
2293
2294goc
2295A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
2296goc
2297Members
22987478 posts
2299Location:Virginia
2300Report post 
2301Posted August 7, 2012
2302  Loss said:
2303I've looked through WONs from '89 trying to find the number of buys for some shows, and it's proven very difficult. My hope was to provide hard numbers for WCW/NWA, but they just aren't there. Dave didn't even always report on the buyrates, sometimes just mentioning it in passing 12-18 months later.
2304
2305This has been my experience looking. Or sometimes he gives the numbers but then gives different numbers for the same show a few weeks later.
2306Charles (Loss)
2307Charles (Loss)
2308Admins
230944846 posts
2310Report post 
2311Posted August 7, 2012
2312I'm sure if the feedback was given to Dave that this would be a great thing to put in a WON at some point, he would do it. Maybe worth making the suggestion.
2313
2314Guest Nell Santucci
2315Guest Nell Santucci
2316Guests
2317Report post 
2318Posted August 7, 2012
2319  Loss said:
2320I'm sure if the feedback was given to Dave that this would be a great thing to put in a WON at some point, he would do it. Maybe worth making the suggestion.
2321
2322A lot of Meltzer's absolute buy numbers are estimations anyway. I might e-mail him. I'm curious to find out just how low SuperBrawl 2000 went under Russo's direction for comedy relief. (I'm tired of Russo marks saying that he drew big ratings for WCW.)
2323
2324Bix
2325Bix
2326DVDVR 80s Project
23276273 posts
2328Report post 
2329Posted August 7, 2012
2330By the way...Dave MUST have some kind of master list of business figures over the years and isn't just looking through old WONs, right?
2331
2332Tim Cooke
2333Tim Cooke
2334DVDVR 80s Project
23351592 posts
2336Location:Birdland
2337Report post 
2338Posted August 7, 2012
2339Here is Dave's mid-decade buy rate article from the 2/14/05 WON
2340
2341 
2342
2343https://www.dropbox.com/s/buuzq42b6s9r6in/2...9%20PARTIAL.pdf
2344
2345Guest Nell Santucci
2346Guest Nell Santucci
2347Guests
2348Report post 
2349Posted August 7, 2012
2350  Tim Cooke said:
2351Here is Dave's mid-decade buy rate article from the 2/14/05 WON
2352
2353 
2354
2355https://www.dropbox.com/s/buuzq42b6s9r6in/2...9%20PARTIAL.pdf
2356
2357Wow, thanks a ton. The added interpretation of Meltzer makes this link so infinitely valuable because it helps me get a feel for the main event without relying on too much interpretation.
2358
2359Jmare007
2360Jmare007
2361Members
23622218 posts
2363Report post 
2364Posted August 8, 2012
2365  Tim Cooke said:
2366Here is Dave's mid-decade buy rate article from the 2/14/05 WON
2367
2368 
2369
2370https://www.dropbox.com/s/buuzq42b6s9r6in/2...9%20PARTIAL.pdf
2371
2372I'm amazed that Brock vs Taker in a HIAC match didn't mean a thing (it drew the same as Unforgiven 1 month prior) but Nash vs HHH in HIAC meant a 70k boost less than a year later.
2373
2374Charles (Loss)
2375Charles (Loss)
2376Admins
237744846 posts
2378Report post 
2379Posted August 8, 2012
2380Mick Foley was the special referee after a long absence. That's what sold that main event. Plus, that show had Flair/Michaels.
2381
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2413 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
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2415Guest The Jiz
2416A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
2417By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
2418 PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT  Page 3 of 7  
2419Jmare007
2420Jmare007
2421Members
24222218 posts
2423Report post 
2424Posted August 8, 2012
2425  Loss said:
2426Mick Foley was the special referee after a long absence. That's what sold that main event. Plus, that show had Flair/Michaels.
2427
2428Yeah, I just thought the Cell was always a big draw until they went overboard with it in the last couple of years.
2429
2430 
2431
2432 
2433
2434Just curious though, did Flair/Michaels had a better build up than Piper/Hogan (the "big" undercard match for Judgement Day 03')? Was is it seen as a bigger match at the time?
2435
2436Charles (Loss)
2437Charles (Loss)
2438Admins
243944846 posts
2440Report post 
2441Posted August 8, 2012
2442Not sure about that. Flair/Michaels was a first-time outing though, not counting the 8-minute special from '91. That show also had Goldberg/Jericho. I don't know if I'd call that a money match, but there's appeal there, and that match was built very well, with Jericho narrowly avoiding the spear in the build and then working the match around avoiding it. Goldberg finally doing it got a big pop. But I always loved the Highlight Reel with him spraying Goldberg in the eyes, spearing him, then taking off running as fast as he could.
2443
2444NintendoLogic
2445Grim and frostbitten
2446NintendoLogic
2447Members
24484179 posts
2449Report post 
2450Posted August 8, 2012
2451There was also the curiosity factor of it being the first single brand PPV.
2452
2453Guest Nell Santucci
2454Guest Nell Santucci
2455Guests
2456Report post 
2457Posted August 20, 2012
2458  JNLister said:
2459I think you've probably got all this in the edited original post now, but here's a list I put together a few months back for the Mania shows. I think they all came directly or indirectly from the Observer:
2460
2461 
2462
2463o WrestleMania 1 - 398,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and literally a handful on PPV.
2464
2465o WrestleMania 2 - 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.
2466
2467o WrestleMania III - 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV
2468
2469o WrestleMania IV - 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV
2470
2471o WrestleMania V - 767,000
2472
2473o WrestleMania VI - 550,000
2474
2475o WrestleMania VII - 400,000
2476
2477o WrestleMania VIII - 360,000
2478
2479o WrestleMania IX - 430,000
2480
2481o WrestleMania X - 420,000
2482
2483o WrestleMania XI - 340,000
2484
2485o WrestleMania XII - 290,000
2486
2487o WrestleMania 13 - 237,000
2488
2489o WrestleMania XIV - 730,000
2490
2491o WrestleMania XV - 800,000
2492
2493o WrestleMania 2000 - 824,000
2494
2495o WrestleMania X-Seven - 1,040,000 (950,000 domestic)
2496
2497o WrestleMania X8 - 880,000 (domestic/intl split unknown)
2498
2499o WrestleMania XIX - 560,000 (north america only?)
2500
2501o WrestleMania XX - 885,000 (WWE figure, lower than that on the original version of this list) ( (domestic/intl split unknown)
2502
2503o WrestleMania 21 - 1,085,000 (approx 650,000 domestic)
2504
2505o WrestleMania 22 - 975,000 (approx 584,000 domestic)
2506
2507o WrestleMania 23 - 1,250,000 (825,000 domestic)
2508
2509o WrestleMania XXIV - 1,041,000 (697,000 domestic)
2510
2511o WrestleMania XXV - 960,000 (605,000 domestic)
2512
2513o WrestleMania XXVI - 885,000 (498,000 domestic)
2514
2515o WrestleMania XXVII - 1,042,000 (617,000 domestic)
2516
2517 
2518
2519For reference, 21 was the first show on PPV in the UK, which will have added a fair chunk to the international figure.
2520
2521Your numbers almost all agree with the literature, though my concern rest in your Wrestlemania II and Wrestlemania IV numbers. Why the deviation from the numbers I have? Wrestlemania VIII varies enough to the extent that it'd be worth cross-referencing.
2522
2523JNLister
2524JNLister
2525Members
2526359 posts
2527Report post 
2528Posted August 22, 2012
2529The WM4 figures are from the 1988 Observer yearbook.
2530
2531 
2532
2533I'm not 100% on where I got the WM2 figure. The 1986 Observer yearbook has the 250,000 PPV you mention plus 350,000 for closed circuit, though notes both of them are estimates. Though I don't recall the precise source, the 319,000 I had for closed circuit sound like a more precise figure that emerged later on, perhaps after Dave got to see the company books.
2534
2535 
2536
2537My gut instinct is that 250,000 for PPV seems a little high, but I don't think I've seen a precise figure to contradict it.
2538
2539Guest Nell Santucci
2540Guest Nell Santucci
2541Guests
2542Report post 
2543Posted August 22, 2012
2544  JNLister said:
2545The WM4 figures are from the 1988 Observer yearbook.
2546
2547 
2548
2549I'm not 100% on where I got the WM2 figure. The 1986 Observer yearbook has the 250,000 PPV you mention plus 350,000 for closed circuit, though notes both of them are estimates. Though I don't recall the precise source, the 319,000 I had for closed circuit sound like a more precise figure that emerged later on, perhaps after Dave got to see the company books.
2550
2551 
2552
2553My gut instinct is that 250,000 for PPV seems a little high, but I don't think I've seen a precise figure to contradict it.
2554
2555Yeah. Who knows? I will give your post more thought when I'm less busy. With respect to Dave, I e-mailed him, and he didn't reply. We all need to start bugging him about this. I mean, Christ, on Wikipedia, people used that dumb standard of 1.0 = 400,000 buys, and the Wikitardians are writing nonsense like In Your House (Sid/Diesel, May 1995) got 320,000 buys, which is ridiculous because that would imply IYH had 20,000 less buys than Wrestlemania XI and almost 100,000 more buys than Wrestlemania XII (lol?). So there you go.
2556
2557 
2558
2559Let's start a campaign and bug him to put it in an Observer soon.
2560
2561Jmare007
2562Jmare007
2563Members
25642218 posts
2565Report post 
2566Posted August 25, 2012
2567  Quote
2568WWE updated their Key Performance Indicators with figures for the third quarter of this year, which only includes July. You can read the full PDF report at this link (http://www.snl.com/interactive/lookandfeel...-Indicators.pdf), here are some highlights:
2569
2570 
2571
2572* WWE Money in the Bank in July did 196,000 buys (108K buys domestic, 88K buys international). It looks to have done slightly better than last year's event, which did 195,000 buys.
2573
2574Guest Nell Santucci
2575Guest Nell Santucci
2576Guests
2577Report post 
2578Posted August 25, 2012
2579Does anyone have a clue who I could contact to get PPV numbers? I wouldn't mind writing to the WWE itself and getting those numbers. Does Zane have all the numbers? Did WCW release their numbers publicly?
2580
2581 
2582
2583EDIT: I wrote to Dave Meltzer again. Hopefully he'll respond. Maybe he hates me. LOL
2584
2585Guest Nell Santucci
2586Guest Nell Santucci
2587Guests
2588Report post 
2589Posted August 27, 2012
2590Major research news coming soon. I'll explain the mathematical derivation such that we can get all the research for both WWF and WCW PPVs. I'll direct what I need for missing variables.
2591
2592Dooley
2593Dooley
2594Members
2595730 posts
2596Report post 
2597Posted August 27, 2012
2598Why do closed circuit numbers end after WM4? I ask because I watched WM5 on closed-circuit. Did they just start putting the numbers together at that point?
2599
2600Bix
2601Bix
2602DVDVR 80s Project
26036273 posts
2604Report post 
2605Posted August 27, 2012
2606WM4 was the last year where CCTV was a substantial part of the equation. WM5 still did pretty well but CCTV fell off a cliff with WM6.
2607
2608rainmakerrtv
2609rainmakerrtv
2610Members
26112078 posts
2612Report post 
2613Posted August 28, 2012
2614  Bix said:
2615WM4 was the last year where CCTV was a substantial part of the equation. WM5 still did pretty well but CCTV fell off a cliff with WM6.
2616
2617Why was that? Did PPV make it redundant?
2618
2619Bix
2620Bix
2621DVDVR 80s Project
26226273 posts
2623Report post 
2624Posted August 28, 2012
2625  rainmakerrtv said:
2626  Bix said:
2627WM4 was the last year where CCTV was a substantial part of the equation. WM5 still did pretty well but CCTV fell off a cliff with WM6.
2628
2629Why was that? Did PPV make it redundant?
2630
2631 
2632
2633Yup.
2634Guest Nell Santucci
2635Guest Nell Santucci
2636Guests
2637Report post 
2638Posted August 28, 2012
2639Does anyone know how much WCW charged for the 1995 Slamboree? I have a PPV number and want to run a test very soon on my derivation. (I'm in the process of moving now and just don't have that much Internet access unless I'm on school property.)
2640
2641Bix
2642Bix
2643DVDVR 80s Project
26446273 posts
2645Report post 
2646Posted August 28, 2012
2647I THINK the WCW PPVs were something weird like $27.50 around that time.
2648
2649Sean Liska
2650Sean Reedy
2651Sean Liska
2652Members
26531441 posts
2654Report post 
2655Posted August 29, 2012
2656Dave did a history of SummerSlam in the new issue and has these numbers -
2657
2658 
2659
266088 - About 400,000
2661
266289 - 625,000
2663
266490 - Estimated 507,000
2665
266691 - 405,000
2667
266892 - About 280,000
2669
267093 - About 250,000
2671
267298- 700,000
2673
267499 - 600,000
2675
26762001 - 570,000
2677
26782002 - 540,000
2679
26802004 - 320,000
2681
26822005 - 640,000
2683
2684JNLister
2685JNLister
2686Members
2687359 posts
2688Report post 
2689Posted August 29, 2012
269089 is notable because it did better than the following WrestleMania. Part of that was just inevitable decline as the product called and the PPV market got more saturated, but there was definitely a degree of "Jeez, Hogan-Warrior drew less than Zeus."
2691
2692Ricky Jackson
2693The Only 5 Time Champion
2694Ricky Jackson
2695Members
26963541 posts
2697Location:The Vancouver Territory
2698Report post 
2699Posted August 29, 2012
2700The Summerslam 89 number is a definitely a testament to how hot the Hogan-Savage feud really was.
2701
2702NintendoLogic
2703Grim and frostbitten
2704NintendoLogic
2705Members
27064179 posts
2707Report post 
2708Posted August 29, 2012
2709  Ricky Jackson said:
2710The Summerslam 89 number is a definitely a testament to how hot the Hogan-Savage feud really was.
2711
2712According to Dave, it was a testament to how well they built up Zeus.
2713
2714Ricky Jackson
2715The Only 5 Time Champion
2716Ricky Jackson
2717Members
27183541 posts
2719Location:The Vancouver Territory
2720Report post 
2721Posted August 29, 2012
2722Meltzer? I thought we stopped taking him seriously years ago. I mean really, 78,000 for Mania III? Bah. Nonsense.
2723
2724 
2725
2726Seriously though, I'm sticking with the continuation of the Hogan-Savage feud being the main draw, with the addition of a well built-up Zeus as a nice bonus.
2727
2728Sean Liska
2729Sean Reedy
2730Sean Liska
2731Members
27321441 posts
2733Report post 
2734Posted August 30, 2012
2735Zeus was the main focus of the build for that match. The two big SNME angles were centered on him - not letting Hogan into the cage before the Bossman match, and no selling Hogan's chair shots after the Beefcake-Savage match and then doing a staredown.
2736
2737Strummer
2738Strummer
2739Members
27405295 posts
2741Report post 
2742Posted August 31, 2012
2743Have to credit Tommy Lister here. In the build Hogan acted exceedingly scared of Zeus and the announcers acted like he had no chance against him. As Dave put it once, Hogan sold Zeus's nerve hold "Like he'd been shot". Hogan had never acted so fearful of an opponent. Of course the day of the show he was calm and collective (while being pro wrestling hyper at the same time obviously) and acted like it was no sweat but that's how the WWF did business back then. I'm not saying Savage was an afterthought but clearly the build was if Hogan could somehow beat Zeus
2744
2745khawk20
2746khawk20
2747DVDVR 80s Project
27482490 posts
2749Report post 
2750Posted August 31, 2012
2751  Strummer said:
2752Have to credit Tommy Lister here. In the build Hogan acted exceedingly scared of Zeus and the announcers acted like he had no chance against him. As Dave put it once, Hogan sold Zeus's nerve hold "Like he'd been shot". Hogan had never acted so fearful of an opponent. Of course the day of the show he was calm and collective (while being pro wrestling hyper at the same time obviously) and acted like it was no sweat but that's how the WWF did business back then. I'm not saying Savage was an afterthought but clearly the build was if Hogan could somehow beat Zeus
2753
2754By conincidence, I've been watching a lot of the WWE Classics on Demand Prime Time Wrestling shows this week, all to do with the pre-build to Summerslam, and yeah, they built it very well.
2755
2756nwa88
2757nwa88
2758Members
27592 posts
2760Report post 
2761Posted September 9, 2012
2762Greetings!
2763
2764 
2765
2766I posted the following on another wrestling forum in regards to this particular subject recently, but seeing how as the topic has been raised over here, I thought I would post it again and hopefully offer some help with the project.
2767
2768-------------------
2769
2770 
2771
2772I've been working on an ongoing project to compile a database of buyrates for WWF and WCW PPVs (among others) going back to the 1980s.
2773
2774 
2775
2776It has been brought to my attention that there are issues with many of figures for these shows that have popped up in the Wrestling Observer and such over the years and I'd like to try to arrive at some more pinpointed numbers as there is a lot of misinformation going on over the internet about this topic.
2777
2778 
2779
2780Also, I'm hoping to get the attention of another member here, as I know he's working on a similar project and I thought we spitball and compare some numbers.
2781
2782 
2783
2784At any rate, my eventual plan is to develop some sort of website or web application with the data so that there is a central and comprehensive source for accurate numbers -- or in the case where hard numbers don't exist or cannot be agreed upon, a place to gather all of the different speculated numbers for a show.
2785
2786 
2787
2788I'd like to offer some help with this project, as this is a topic I've been studying for many years. Around the summer of 1997, I became quite interested in buyrates in general and began collecting a lot of the available data online and simultaneously became intrigued with the sheer amount of inconsistency that seemed to exist in the numbers depending on who was reporting them.
2789
2790 
2791
2792As you know, most of the numbers found online for calculated buys are simply not reliable for pre-WWE era shows. Many of them have been pulled from an older incarnation of the “Wrestling Information Archive” website several years ago. The person who ran that site failed to account for the expanding and contracting size of the PPV universe and thus overestimated the number of buys for pretty much all shows before 2002 or so. That is a huge source for a lot of misinformation about buyrates and buys, as I'm sure many of you are aware. Other sites have tried hard to report just the facts as they have come from sources, most notably the Pro Wrestling History website, which has been keeping track of the buyrates since 1996 or so. Most of their numbers seem to come directly from the old Observer Newsletter.
2793
2794 
2795
2796In fact, The Wrestling Observer is just about the most prominent source of the information on wrestling buyrate information online. It is a helpful and important source for information on this topic, and I’ve read through many years of them extensively, but there are some problems with Dave's numbers that will have to be worked out. This is why I wanted to alert Nell Santucci, as I believe he is using Meltzer’s audience estimates to come up with a PPV audience growth rate formula. Meltzer's PPV universe numbers seem to be quite unreliable.
2797
2798 
2799
2800I'd break-down the issues with Dave Meltzer's numbers in the Observers into the following areas:
2801
2802 
2803
28041. Often times, he is given the actual buyrate for a show from a rep and calculates the number of buys himself. This is clear in many of his 1980s entries. The problem with this method is that from almost all of the figures I've been able to find, the pay-per-view audience size he uses in his calculations is usually off, sometimes by quite a bit. In many cases it's because he's basing them on the numbers for the previous year’s PPV universe. For a couple of years he inexplicably used 20 million as a base audience figure (which Herb Kunze often repeated in good faith, but I believe he called some question to the practice as well in some of his RSPW posts) despite a substantial growth in the size of the PPV universe over the period in question. At times, there is a lack of consistency in his numbers regarding the audience size as well, often within the same year or even the same month. For example, for WCW Mayhem 1999 he states that it "did 0.43 buyrate or 168,000 buys". For Survivor Series 1999, which occurred in the same month, he reports that it "did a 1.14 or 425,000 buys". The first number suggests a potential PPV universe of 39 million homes, while the second suggest a PPV universe of around 37 million homes. The PPV audience is ever expanding and contracting, but not that at that rapid of a rate. Whatever factors may be at fault here (miscalculations, mistakes, wrong estimates, shady promoters) the numbers are not accurate.
2805
2806 
2807
28082. Conversely at other times he is given the # of buys themselves (which we can only hope come from an independent industry source, although his sources are not always divulged) and calculates the buyrate himself based on what he believes to be the size of the audience. Once again, you run into a similar problem with the audience size. Furthermore this has caused inaccurate buyrate %s to be repeated and published subsequently. I think in these instances as long as the source is deemed reliable, that it would be better to use the buys given to him and recalculate the buyrate % based on those numbers, as his buyrate percentages are not likely accurate in those situations.
2809
2810 
2811
28123. Satellite and cable companies often take months to get all of the reported buys in, which affects the buyrate % and Meltzer does not always follow up on those shows down the line and update the numbers, although he’s usually been pretty good about it. Just FYI, historically buyrates are given as an average of the reporting markets. The buyrate is a simply a percentage of the average of each individual cable systems ratio of purchases to customers. Initial reports are often high -- for example, if the initial buyrate report comes back for a show including cable companies in wrestling hotbeds like Los Angeles and New York first, then the rate will normally come in artificially high, since those tend to have a higher percentage of orders than other areas. The same is true for the stated number of buys -- those numbers are only an estimate in preliminary reports, as it takes up to a year before all of the individual buys are actually counted and tabulated. As you’d expect, they often come out lower than the initial estimates, as we’ve seen even this year with the WWE’s WrestleMania buys being revised several times, vacillating between 1.1 and 1.3 million buys. This is probably the biggest obstacle in pinning down numbers -- and if you could find an independent source with the *final* buys or buyrates for pre WWE era shows, then you'd have much more accurate information to work with. There are a few sources out there with some of this information that I’m trying to get my hands on it, but they are not easy to come by. What I’ve got so far has been via interlibrary loans – some publications that would come in especially handy are the following ones: The Pay TV Newsletter and the Cable TV Financial Databook Annual. Both of these publications include research by the media firm Paul Kagan and Associates, who I have found has offered the most consistent data on the size of PPV audiences over the years and are frequently sourced in discussions regarding it. I’m hoping some of these publications have information on specific shows as well, since they routinely published lists of the highest grossing PPVs when called upon for that information.
2813
2814 
2815
28164. The growth of satellite TV creates a little bit of confusion with some of the numbers as well. Historically PPV availability was reported by the cable industry only, with satellite PPV audience size access presumably lumped in with cable. This changed in 1997, when the cable industry began to stagnate in terms of subscriber growth, but PPV grew tremendously anyway due to the proliferation of satellite TV subscriptions. This helped get PPV to areas that were previously unreachable due to their remoteness. At any rate, around this time a lot of reports on PPV audience size began to not include satellite subscriptions, which I've found were reported separately or not at all for some years. Cracking this one is going to be especially tricky for the period of 1999 to 2002, as there is still some missing data to gather on satellite availability.
2817
2818 
2819
28203. Contradictory data appearing or mistakes made over time -- the Summer Slam 1998 buyrate is one of the most notable, inflating from about 500,000 buys in 1998 up to 700,000 buys. I would guess it was in 2003, but Meltzer suddenly began reporting the 700k number when it was previously reported by just about everyone (including himself and several independent sources) that the show did between 500k and 530k buys. Not sure what has led to the revision.
2821
2822 
2823
28244. Wrestling companies often lie about the number of buys and the buyrates. I'm sure you've heard this or likely seen it yourself. It's remarked upon in the Observer at multiple points as well, and there are several of Multichannel News Articles that quote WWE spokesperson Skip Desjardin, where you can track the lies from year to year. See his reports on the buyrates for SummerSlam 1993 and 1994 – as the math makes no sense given what he is saying. It does seem to be more notable in the WWF than WCW once you get to the 1990s for some reason (not so in the 1980s though) but WCW had a few shows where they tried to pull a fast one too -- most notably Bash at the Beach 1997, although that was later verified. The WrestleMania 14 buyrate is a bit suspect too in my opinion -- as the “final” numbers for the show came out unusually far over the preliminary estimated buyrate of 1.78 (farther than any reported show has over a preliminary estimate and by a large margin based on what I’ve seen for preliminary figures for other shows). The number seems to have never been corroborated by a non- WWF source either, so the 2.2 or 2.3% reported might be pure fantasy. Personally I’d make the case that this sort of makes sense too, given the WWF was much more popular in 1999 than mid-1998 – and yet the WrestleMania 15 buyrate was just about the same. It doesn't make a lot of sense that they would convert so many normally non-buying customers into buyers for one show and by such a substantial margin. The "Tyson" effect is usually cited, but I think his impact may be overstated outside the arena, as most of Tyson's fights after the 2nd Holyfield fight in 1997 did poor buyrates until his Lennox Lewis fight in 2002, so I’m not sure he was really the draw people thought he was in 1998. One other notable discrepancy is with the WrestleMania 4 and 5 buyrates -- with Meltzer noting that they did very similar numbers in terms of buys, and at one point that WrestleMania 4 had done more buys, but he's obviously revised that figure to push WM5 much higher. I’m not sure why the change was made, because it doesn’t seem to hold up in the math. WrestleMania III has also been reported as high as 10.2 and as low as 8.
2825
2826 
2827
28285. Getting reliable figures on the size of the PPV audience is difficult, which makes establishing a month to month rate of growth difficult as well. The size of the PPV universe does vary from month to month, but the updated figure is normally published only once a year by media sources, leading me to believe the previous year’s shows are often either underestimated (based on the previous years average audience) or over-estimated (based on the growth estimates of the next years PPV universe). This is where establishing some sort of formula would come in handy, based on the PPV universe data for each year, to calculate a growth rate from month to month that would make recalculating buys for each event easier.
2829
2830 
2831
2832 
2833
28346. As far as calculating a formula, it should also be noted that the growth in the PPV universe is not likely to be strictly linear -- there were a few key events that occurred along the way to cause spikes and contractions in the PPV available universe. I’m not a mathematician, so I’m not sure if the spikes deviate enough from the averages for the function to be considered non-linear, but the PPV universe certainly has not always expanded upwards.
2835
2836 
2837
28387. Yet another commonly missed issue is that of traps and addressability. For those not aware, a lot of data reported on the size of the PPV universe only count addressable homes (i.e. homes that can receive PPV via a bi-directional box, typically orders taken by phone, remote, or set top box menus) but some cable systems sold PPV via contract with customers using descrambler units rented out directly to the subscriber. This was because of the high cost of converting to an addressable cable system which allowed PPV to be deployed (or “addressed”) remotely. Many mid-sized cable companies could not afford this, didn’t want to pass on the expense of the boxes to the customers, or did not have the channel capacity to include a full-time PPV network, so they strictly offered selected events, carried over a channel that normally hosted some other type of programming (typically leased access or paid programming). One way around having an addressable system was to use positive traps on the boxes instead, similar to those used to prevent viewers from watching premium channels on non-addressable boxes. You see this reference in old movies and TV a lot, where the tenant pays the cable employee $50 for all the premium channels – it's the same idea. These traps were placed on the cable line or within the box itself to filter out particular ranges of channels, but they can be removed or descrambled with an external device. There were a few significant drives to get cable companies to use this system in order to get a chunk of the PPV pie when the going was good, but for whatever reason these figures seem to be excluded from estimates of the PPV audience, perhaps due to the difficulty of gathering the data. I've seen it referred to just a few times in the literature I've read, but I have personally experienced it and it seems to have been substantial in some cases. This article from the LA Times in 1992 makes reference to it (http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-20/business/fi-281_1_cable-operators/2) and suggests as many as 10 million potential customers used traps -- which is a substantial portion of the PPV universe in 1992. This is much less of an issue from about 1995 on as most systems were addressable by that point, but prior to that there may be a substantial portion of the audience that is unaccounted for or is accounted for in an inconsistent manner.
2839
2840 
2841
28426. Dave Meltzer himself stated in an April 1991 edition of the Observer that there was some over-counting going on in his own calculations of the audience size -- because he was presumably using the combined reported PPV universe sizes stated by the two major PPV companies (Request and Viewer's choice) who both distributed WWF and NWA/WCW PPVs for his calculations. There is some overlap between the customer bases however. As an example, Request and Viewer’s choice combined may have had access to let’s say 10 million customers at one point, but some cable networks carried both channels on their systems, which means that those are not necessarily going be 10 million unique customers. This may be a major issue, especially with the 1980s shows where he seems unaware of this fact. The actual reported buys themselves are likely too high.
2843
2844 
2845
28467. Not all WWF and WCW PPVs were offered every month, in every market, before about 1990 or so and even after that in some areas. I'm sure we'll have some user confirmations of this, but many cable companies in the late 1980s would often pick and choose what PPVs they would carry, limiting them to just a few events, which has an impact upon the size of the calculated PPV audience, and therefore the actual buyrate. Meltzer occasionally identifies this issue, most notably in reference to Starrcade 1987 and also the WWE’s dispute with DirecTV that caused them to drop coverage for a few PPV shows. There is probably no way to acquire information on this, so we'll just have to assume it was not substantial, although I'd hypothesize that it particularly impacts the early NWA/WCW buyrates the most since they did not have the market saturation the WWF did.
2847
2848 
2849
28508. One other issue I'll mention briefly as far as calculating the amount of money generated by a PPV -- the price of a PPV was not always a standard thing before the 1990s -- some markets charged slightly more and slightly less for the same show until PPV went national. Furthermore complicating it is that for certain shows, you received a discount for the event if you ordered early, but paid full price for a day-of-the-event buy. Lastly there may be special situations that need to be identified, such as Starrcade 1991, where WCW charged $19.99 instead of the usual $19.95, but did not pocket the four cents, it was instead donated to the Starlight Foundation. At any rate, I'm happy to give whatever price data I saved once the prices became standardized.
2851
2852 
2853
2854So at any rate, those are the issues as I see it. I guess my ultimate goal is to help come up with something to display all of the known information – information for a show if it is available or a notation for a show where it is not, along with the various estimates that can be cobbled together. It would be nice to have a line for each show that is a recalculation of the buyrate and audience size based on known data, if for no other reason than comparison purposes to see how feasible a particular reported number is.
2855
2856artDDP
2857Mediocre Dudebro
2858artDDP
2859Members
2860970 posts
2861Location:Sacramento, CA
2862Report post 
2863Posted September 9, 2012
2864  Bix said:
2865I THINK the WCW PPVs were something weird like $27.50 around that time.
2866
2867I remember them being $27.95 for a long time and wondering why they were just a little cheaper than the WWF's $29.95 when their production values were night-and-day.
2868
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2900 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
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2902Guest The Jiz
2903A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
2904By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
2905 PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT  Page 4 of 7  
2906Jmare007
2907Jmare007
2908Members
29092218 posts
2910Report post 
2911Posted September 27, 2012
2912Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
2913
2914 
2915
2916  Quote
2917According to new data released by WWE, the 2012 SummerSlam pay-per-view was a huge success with 350,000 worldwide pay-per-view buys. This breaks down to 264,000 North American buys but just 86,000 international. This is the most successful SummerSlam since 2008.
2918
2919 
2920
292175% of the buys coming from North America indicates that Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H was the reason. Lesnar's main drawing power from his UFC days was big in the US and Canada but little international.
2922
2923 
2924
2925In comparison, the 2011 SummerSlam pay-per-view did 180,000 North American buys and 131,000 international buys for a total of 311,000. Last year was headlined by CM Punk vs. John Cena with Triple H as referee and Randy Orton vs. Christian
2926
2927Jmare007
2928Jmare007
2929Members
29302218 posts
2931Report post 
2932Posted October 25, 2012
2933  Quote
2934The 2012 Night Of Champion garnered 189,000 worldwide pay-per-view buys. The event did 100,000 buys in North America and 89,000 internationally.
2935
2936 
2937
2938This year's card was headlined by WWE Champion CM Punk and John Cena fighting to a draw.
2939
2940 
2941
2942For the third quarter of 2012, WWE averaged 245K pay-per-buys (158K in North America, 87K international), up 13% from the same quarter last year which averaged 217K buys (140K from North America, 77K international).
2943
2944 
2945
29462011 NOC: 161,000
2947
2948Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
2949
2950  Quote
2951WWE's WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view did end up being the single most purchased pro wrestling pay-per-view event in history, based on new data that are likely the final numbers for the event.
2952
2953 
2954
2955These updated numbers include late recorded buys and have WrestleMania 28 doing 1,253,000 buys - 733,000 domestic and 520,000 internationally. The international number would beat the all-time record by a significant amount. There have been several events over the years that have topped the domestic number.
2956
2957 
2958
2959The 1,253,000 buys for WrestleMania 28 beats out the 1,250,000 buys for WrestleMania 23 in 2007 with Donald Trump. Technically, when it's all said and done WWE is able to round up to 1.3 million buys and claim the biggest pay-per-view of all-time.
2960
2961Source: PWInsider
2962
2963  Quote
2964- According to updated numbers from WWE, the 2012 Money in the Bank pay-per-view did just over 200,000 buys, slightly up from 2010 and 2011.
2965
2966Jmare007
2967Jmare007
2968Members
29692218 posts
2970Report post 
2971Posted February 28, 2013
2972I guess Nell gave up on this? :huh:
2973
2974 
2975
2976Anyways, here's the results from WWE's latest quarter earnings conference call
2977
2978 
2979
2980  Quote
2981The details for the number of buys (in 000s) for each pay-per-view in the quarter are as follows:
2982
2983 
2984
2985---------------------------2012----2011
2986
2987 
2988
2989WWE Hell in a Cell --199---------182
2990
2991 
2992
2993Survivor Series---------208------281
2994
2995 
2996
2997TLC----------------------175--------179
2998
2999 
3000
3001 
3002
3003WWE released their financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012 this morning. Pay-Per-View revenues for the quarter were $13.0 million, as compared to $14.6 million in the prior-year quarter. However the company produced three pay-per-view events in the quarter in 2012, as compared to four in the prior-year quarter.
3004
3005 
3006
3007Revenue and buys were also effected by their television partnership in the U.K., as they selected one fewer event in the current quarter to distribute on pay-per-view. On a comparable basis for the events produced in the quarter, revenue increased approximately 4% as the 3% decline in buys was offset by a 7% increase in the average revenue per buy due in part to an increased number of high-definition buys, which are generally charged at a higher prices.
3008
3009 
3010
3011For the year, revenues from pay-per-view were $83.6 million, as opposed to $78.3 million in 2011.
3012
3013Guest Nell Santucci
3014Guest Nell Santucci
3015Guests
3016Report post 
3017Posted February 28, 2013
3018  Quote
3019I've been working on an ongoing project to compile a database of buyrates for WWF and WCW PPVs (among others) going back to the 1980s.
3020
3021 
3022
3023It has been brought to my attention that there are issues with many of figures for these shows that have popped up in the Wrestling Observer and such over the years and I'd like to try to arrive at some more pinpointed numbers as there is a lot of misinformation going on over the internet about this topic.
3024
3025 
3026
3027Also, I'm hoping to get the attention of another member here, as I know he's working on a similar project and I thought we spitball and compare some numbers.
3028
3029 
3030
3031At any rate, my eventual plan is to develop some sort of website or web application with the data so that there is a central and comprehensive source for accurate numbers -- or in the case where hard numbers don't exist or cannot be agreed upon, a place to gather all of the different speculated numbers for a show.
3032
3033 
3034
3035I'd like to offer some help with this project, as this is a topic I've been studying for many years. Around the summer of 1997, I became quite interested in buyrates in general and began collecting a lot of the available data online and simultaneously became intrigued with the sheer amount of inconsistency that seemed to exist in the numbers depending on who was reporting them.
3036
3037Okay, so you came to the right thread.
3038 
3039
3040 
3041
3042  Quote
3043As you know, most of the numbers found online for calculated buys are simply not reliable for pre-WWE era shows. Many of them have been pulled from an older incarnation of the “Wrestling Information Archive†website several years ago. The person who ran that site failed to account for the expanding and contracting size of the PPV universe and thus overestimated the number of buys for pretty much all shows before 2002 or so. That is a huge source for a lot of misinformation about buyrates and buys, as I'm sure many of you are aware. Other sites have tried hard to report just the facts as they have come from sources, most notably the Pro Wrestling History website, which has been keeping track of the buyrates since 1996 or so. Most of their numbers seem to come directly from the old Observer Newsletter.
3044
3045It's not only a source for error, but counterexamples prove its absurdity. For example, we know that around 10% of the PPV Universe purchased Wrestlemania III. (One can't think of that in proportions either as obviously the bigger markets got PPV first and thus, there would have been a diminishing return had the size of the PPV Universe increased with respect to the total number of buys.) At 10% of the PPV Universe and at around the fixed 400,000 homes per 1% of the PPV Universe, that implies 4,000,000 people would have purchased Wrestlemania III. Obviously that's false. Even modern UFC PPVs headlined by Brock Lesnar never came close to those numbers (1.6 million at his best, with GSP on top of the card, and they're both bigger stars than Hogan ever was). Mike Tyson's return bout against Holyfield did around 1.6 million buys, and their return bout after the ear-biting controversy drew 2 million. So the thought that Wrestlemania III did double that is only true in the minds of the WWE's most gullible marks.
3046 
3047
3048  Quote
3049In fact, The Wrestling Observer is just about the most prominent source of the information on wrestling buyrate information online. It is a helpful and important source for information on this topic, and I've read through many years of them extensively, but there are some problems with Dave's numbers that will have to be worked out. This is why I wanted to alert Nell Santucci, as I believe he is using Meltzer's audience estimates to come up with a PPV audience growth rate formula. Meltzer's PPV universe numbers seem to be quite unreliable.
3050
3051Everything seems to be settled. Yes, Meltzer is vital.
3052 
3053
3054  Quote
3055I'd break-down the issues with Dave Meltzer's numbers in the Observers into the following areas:
3056
3057 
3058
30591. Often times, he is given the actual buyrate for a show from a rep and calculates the number of buys himself. This is clear in many of his 1980s entries. The problem with this method is that from almost all of the figures I've been able to find, the pay-per-view audience size he uses in his calculations is usually off, sometimes by quite a bit. In many cases it's because he's basing them on the numbers for the previous year's PPV universe. For a couple of years he inexplicably used 20 million as a base audience figure (which Herb Kunze often repeated in good faith, but I believe he called some question to the practice as well in some of his RSPW posts) despite a substantial growth in the size of the PPV universe over the period in question. At times, there is a lack of consistency in his numbers regarding the audience size as well, often within the same year or even the same month. For example, for WCW Mayhem 1999 he states that it "did 0.43 buyrate or 168,000 buys". For Survivor Series 1999, which occurred in the same month, he reports that it "did a 1.14 or 425,000 buys". The first number suggests a potential PPV universe of 39 million homes, while the second suggest a PPV universe of around 37 million homes. The PPV audience is ever expanding and contracting, but not that at that rapid of a rate. Whatever factors may be at fault here (miscalculations, mistakes, wrong estimates, shady promoters) the numbers are not accurate.
3060
3061I'm not sure how much any of that matters. I've tested out my formula, and it seems to be accurate with respect to time. Basically, let B = buys, R = revenue generated from buys, P = price of PPV, and .46 as the constant. B = T / (.46 x R). I'd rather have .46 = c, since the constant might have changed; but IIRC, Bix said that the constant has always been that. In other words, the buyrate is totally irrelevant except as a fixed metric for the size of the PPV Universe. (As attractive as that fixed metric sounds, obviously the PPV Universe will be greater in key markets than elsewhere, so expanding the size of the PPV universe in rural and suburban areas will likely result in diminishing returns. In other words, a fixed buyrate won't necessarily give absolute meaning.) The primary determinant is the PPV revenue.
3062 
3063
3064  Quote
30652. Conversely at other times he is given the # of buys themselves (which we can only hope come from an independent industry source, although his sources are not always divulged) and calculates the buyrate himself based on what he believes to be the size of the audience. Once again, you run into a similar problem with the audience size. Furthermore this has caused inaccurate buyrate %s to be repeated and published subsequently. I think in these instances as long as the source is deemed reliable, that it would be better to use the buys given to him and recalculate the buyrate % based on those numbers, as his buyrate percentages are not likely accurate in those situations.
3066
3067 
3068
3069  Quote
30703. Satellite and cable companies often take months to get all of the reported buys in, which affects the buyrate % and Meltzer does not always follow up on those shows down the line and update the numbers, although he's usually been pretty good about it. Just FYI, historically buyrates are given as an average of the reporting markets. The buyrate is a simply a percentage of the average of each individual cable systems ratio of purchases to customers. Initial reports are often high -- for example, if the initial buyrate report comes back for a show including cable companies in wrestling hotbeds like Los Angeles and New York first, then the rate will normally come in artificially high, since those tend to have a higher percentage of orders than other areas. The same is true for the stated number of buys -- those numbers are only an estimate in preliminary reports, as it takes up to a year before all of the individual buys are actually counted and tabulated. As you'd expect, they often come out lower than the initial estimates, as we've seen even this year with the WWE's WrestleMania buys being revised several times, vacillating between 1.1 and 1.3 million buys. This is probably the biggest obstacle in pinning down numbers -- and if you could find an independent source with the *final* buys or buyrates for pre WWE era shows, then you'd have much more accurate information to work with. There are a few sources out there with some of this information that I'm trying to get my hands on it, but they are not easy to come by. What I've got so far has been via interlibrary loans – some publications that would come in especially handy are the following ones: The Pay TV Newsletter and the Cable TV Financial Databook Annual. Both of these publications include research by the media firm Paul Kagan and Associates, who I have found has offered the most consistent data on the size of PPV audiences over the years and are frequently sourced in discussions regarding it. I'm hoping some of these publications have information on specific shows as well, since they routinely published lists of the highest grossing PPVs when called upon for that information.
3071
3072That's very good, though I don't think the size of the PPV Universe matters except only to derive buyrates, where buyrates themselves aren't factored into the formula (just total revenue, a constant, and the price of PPV, so two variables).
3073 
3074
3075  Quote
30764. The growth of satellite TV creates a little bit of confusion with some of the numbers as well. Historically PPV availability was reported by the cable industry only, with satellite PPV audience size access presumably lumped in with cable. This changed in 1997, when the cable industry began to stagnate in terms of subscriber growth, but PPV grew tremendously anyway due to the proliferation of satellite TV subscriptions. This helped get PPV to areas that were previously unreachable due to their remoteness. At any rate, around this time a lot of reports on PPV audience size began to not include satellite subscriptions, which I've found were reported separately or not at all for some years. Cracking this one is going to be especially tricky for the period of 1999 to 2002, as there is still some missing data to gather on satellite availability.
3077
3078Okay, it's something worth considering, I suppose, but I'm worried about diminishing returns here. For example, the more important consideration in all this is standard deviation of PPV buys within some varied time frame or across promotions than absolute buys. For example, does it make a big difference that WWF's Cold Day in Hell (May 1997) might have gotten 175,000 instead of 178,000 buys? If that number were to differ by 20,000, then that can be significant, but its significance would depend on how much that number would vary from other WWF B-show PPVs and WCW PPVs, if your interest was to compare the two promotions. The general point I'm making is that rather than getting caught up in details, we want a better sketch of the general PPV buys history first. For now, we have nothing to work on; the data don't exist in the e-world.
3079 
3080
3081  Quote
30823. Contradictory data appearing or mistakes made over time -- the Summer Slam 1998 buyrate is one of the most notable, inflating from about 500,000 buys in 1998 up to 700,000 buys. I would guess it was in 2003, but Meltzer suddenly began reporting the 700k number when it was previously reported by just about everyone (including himself and several independent sources) that the show did between 500k and 530k buys. Not sure what has led to the revision.
3083
3084I would e-mail Dave about that. I might do it myself if I remember to. That's very significant.
3085 
3086
3087  Quote
30884. Wrestling companies often lie about the number of buys and the buyrates. I'm sure you've heard this or likely seen it yourself. It's remarked upon in the Observer at multiple points as well, and there are several of Multichannel News Articles that quote WWE spokesperson Skip Desjardin, where you can track the lies from year to year. See his reports on the buyrates for SummerSlam 1993 and 1994 – as the math makes no sense given what he is saying. It does seem to be more notable in the WWF than WCW once you get to the 1990s for some reason (not so in the 1980s though) but WCW had a few shows where they tried to pull a fast one too -- most notably Bash at the Beach 1997, although that was later verified. The WrestleMania 14 buyrate is a bit suspect too in my opinion -- as the “final†numbers for the show came out unusually far over the preliminary estimated buyrate of 1.78 (farther than any reported show has over a preliminary estimate and by a large margin based on what I've seen for preliminary figures for other shows). The number seems to have never been corroborated by a non- WWF source either, so the 2.2 or 2.3% reported might be pure fantasy. Personally I'd make the case that this sort of makes sense too, given the WWF was much more popular in 1999 than mid-1998 – and yet the WrestleMania 15 buyrate was just about the same. It doesn't make a lot of sense that they would convert so many normally non-buying customers into buyers for one show and by such a substantial margin. The "Tyson" effect is usually cited, but I think his impact may be overstated outside the arena, as most of Tyson's fights after the 2nd Holyfield fight in 1997 did poor buyrates until his Lennox Lewis fight in 2002, so I'm not sure he was really the draw people thought he was in 1998. One other notable discrepancy is with the WrestleMania 4 and 5 buyrates -- with Meltzer noting that they did very similar numbers in terms of buys, and at one point that WrestleMania 4 had done more buys, but he's obviously revised that figure to push WM5 much higher. I'm not sure why the change was made, because it doesn't seem to hold up in the math. WrestleMania III has also been reported as high as 10.2 and as low as 8.
3089
3090Fortunately, the buyrates aren't a consideration in the formula.
3091 
3092
3093  Quote
30945. Getting reliable figures on the size of the PPV audience is difficult, which makes establishing a month to month rate of growth difficult as well. The size of the PPV universe does vary from month to month, but the updated figure is normally published only once a year by media sources, leading me to believe the previous year's shows are often either underestimated (based on the previous years average audience) or over-estimated (based on the growth estimates of the next years PPV universe). This is where establishing some sort of formula would come in handy, based on the PPV universe data for each year, to calculate a growth rate from month to month that would make recalculating buys for each event easier.
3095
3096The problem with disseminating accurate information on PPV buys is this false and absurd notion that 1.0 buy corresponds to around 400,000 buys. Rather than get fixated on an ever-varying number, it seems more important to qualify that the PPV universe is always changing, that buyrates reflect that ever-changing universe, that buyrate reports conflict between Meltzer's sources, the promotions who want to work their numbers, and Meltzer himself; and, that buyrates don't factor into the formula, as only total revenue does.
3097
3098 
3099
3100  Quote
31016. As far as calculating a formula, it should also be noted that the growth in the PPV universe is not likely to be strictly linear -- there were a few key events that occurred along the way to cause spikes and contractions in the PPV available universe. I'm not a mathematician, so I'm not sure if the spikes deviate enough from the averages for the function to be considered non-linear, but the PPV universe certainly has not always expanded upwards.
3102
3103It's not a factor at all.
3104 
3105
3106  Quote
31077. Yet another commonly missed issue is that of traps and addressability. For those not aware, a lot of data reported on the size of the PPV universe only count addressable homes (i.e. homes that can receive PPV via a bi-directional box, typically orders taken by phone, remote, or set top box menus) but some cable systems sold PPV via contract with customers using descrambler units rented out directly to the subscriber. This was because of the high cost of converting to an addressable cable system which allowed PPV to be deployed (or “addressedâ€) remotely. Many mid-sized cable companies could not afford this, didn't want to pass on the expense of the boxes to the customers, or did not have the channel capacity to include a full-time PPV network, so they strictly offered selected events, carried over a channel that normally hosted some other type of programming (typically leased access or paid programming). One way around having an addressable system was to use positive traps on the boxes instead, similar to those used to prevent viewers from watching premium channels on non-addressable boxes. You see this reference in old movies and TV a lot, where the tenant pays the cable employee $50 for all the premium channels – it's the same idea. These traps were placed on the cable line or within the box itself to filter out particular ranges of channels, but they can be removed or descrambled with an external device. There were a few significant drives to get cable companies to use this system in order to get a chunk of the PPV pie when the going was good, but for whatever reason these figures seem to be excluded from estimates of the PPV audience, perhaps due to the difficulty of gathering the data. I've seen it referred to just a few times in the literature I've read, but I have personally experienced it and it seems to have been substantial in some cases. This article from the LA Times in 1992 makes reference to it (http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-20/business/fi-281_1_cable-operators/2) and suggests as many as 10 million potential customers used traps -- which is a substantial portion of the PPV universe in 1992. This is much less of an issue from about 1995 on as most systems were addressable by that point, but prior to that there may be a substantial portion of the audience that is unaccounted for or is accounted for in an inconsistent manner.
3108
3109That is quite a concern and is worth e-mailing Dave about.
3110 
3111
3112  Quote
31136. Dave Meltzer himself stated in an April 1991 edition of the Observer that there was some over-counting going on in his own calculations of the audience size -- because he was presumably using the combined reported PPV universe sizes stated by the two major PPV companies (Request and Viewer's choice) who both distributed WWF and NWA/WCW PPVs for his calculations. There is some overlap between the customer bases however. As an example, Request and Viewer's choice combined may have had access to let's say 10 million customers at one point, but some cable networks carried both channels on their systems, which means that those are not necessarily going be 10 million unique customers. This may be a major issue, especially with the 1980s shows where he seems unaware of this fact. The actual reported buys themselves are likely too high.
3114
3115That's very interesting. How can we resolve this?
3116 
3117
3118  Quote
31197. Not all WWF and WCW PPVs were offered every month, in every market, before about 1990 or so and even after that in some areas. I'm sure we'll have some user confirmations of this, but many cable companies in the late 1980s would often pick and choose what PPVs they would carry, limiting them to just a few events, which has an impact upon the size of the calculated PPV audience, and therefore the actual buyrate. Meltzer occasionally identifies this issue, most notably in reference to Starrcade 1987 and also the WWE's dispute with DirecTV that caused them to drop coverage for a few PPV shows. There is probably no way to acquire information on this, so we'll just have to assume it was not substantial, although I'd hypothesize that it particularly impacts the early NWA/WCW buyrates the most since they did not have the market saturation the WWF did.
3120
3121That sounds fair.
3122 
3123
3124  Quote
31258. One other issue I'll mention briefly as far as calculating the amount of money generated by a PPV -- the price of a PPV was not always a standard thing before the 1990s -- some markets charged slightly more and slightly less for the same show until PPV went national. Furthermore complicating it is that for certain shows, you received a discount for the event if you ordered early, but paid full price for a day-of-the-event buy. Lastly there may be special situations that need to be identified, such as Starrcade 1991, where WCW charged $19.99 instead of the usual $19.95, but did not pocket the four cents, it was instead donated to the Starlight Foundation. At any rate, I'm happy to give whatever price data I saved once the prices became standardized.
3126
3127That sounds negligible in the sense that the standard deviation wouldn't be that wide because of it. Besides, most PPV buys are impulse buys.
3128 
3129
3130  Quote
3131So at any rate, those are the issues as I see it. I guess my ultimate goal is to help come up with something to display all of the known information – information for a show if it is available or a notation for a show where it is not, along with the various estimates that can be cobbled together. It would be nice to have a line for each show that is a recalculation of the buyrate and audience size based on known data, if for no other reason than comparison purposes to see how feasible a particular reported number is.
3132
3133Sounds fair.
3134
3135I'll make a quick sketch about the formula.
3136
31371.) I found out that the PPV Universe size varied a lot by using a proportion. You could see that by calculating the difference between WCW and WWF PPV buys in 1997, where those shows were held within 30 days of each other, and the WWF PPVs of “This Tuesday in Texas†and the 1991 Survivor Series, as we can see that the size of the PPV Universe varied erratically.
3138
31392.) I read in some Observer, I think in 1995, that McMahon got around 45% of the cut of the PPV price. We have the total revenue. So 45% of the PPV price in the denominator, divided into the much larger numerator, makes dimensional sense because (a) the currency unit cancels out, and (B) the numbers are within close approximation of what we know of the markets at the time (namely that a B-show WWF PPV in 1995 would do around 200k and not around 350k, like Wrestlemania did), and the numbers fit.
3140
31413.) The buyrate itself depends on the PPV universe, and as such, neither would be factored in the formula.
3142
3143 
3144
3145That's largely it.
3146
3147 
3148
3149So the total number of buys "B" = Total revenue "T" divided by (the price of PPV "P" x some .45 constant "c").
3150
3151 
3152
3153I use .46 instead of .45 because the numbers tend to match the actual buys better for some reason. Either way, the difference isn't that substantial.
3154
3155Guest Nell Santucci
3156Guest Nell Santucci
3157Guests
3158Report post 
3159Posted February 28, 2013
3160  Jmare007 said:
3161I guess Nell gave up on this? :huh:
3162
3163 
3164
3165Anyways, here's the results from WWE's latest quarter earnings conference call
3166
3167 
3168
3169  Quote
3170The details for the number of buys (in 000s) for each pay-per-view in the quarter are as follows:
3171
3172 
3173
3174---------------------------2012----2011
3175
3176 
3177
3178WWE Hell in a Cell --199---------182
3179
3180 
3181
3182Survivor Series---------208------281
3183
3184 
3185
3186TLC----------------------175--------179
3187
3188 
3189
3190 
3191
3192WWE released their financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012 this morning. Pay-Per-View revenues for the quarter were $13.0 million, as compared to $14.6 million in the prior-year quarter. However the company produced three pay-per-view events in the quarter in 2012, as compared to four in the prior-year quarter.
3193
3194 
3195
3196Revenue and buys were also effected by their television partnership in the U.K., as they selected one fewer event in the current quarter to distribute on pay-per-view. On a comparable basis for the events produced in the quarter, revenue increased approximately 4% as the 3% decline in buys was offset by a 7% increase in the average revenue per buy due in part to an increased number of high-definition buys, which are generally charged at a higher prices.
3197
3198 
3199
3200For the year, revenues from pay-per-view were $83.6 million, as opposed to $78.3 million in 2011.
3201
3202How utterly bizarre. No. I just had time to update stuff today and to calculate it. As normal, I made it more complicated than it had to be.
3203
3204Guest Nell Santucci
3205Guest Nell Santucci
3206Guests
3207Report post 
3208Posted February 28, 2013
3209I'm going to try and do all the PPVs from 1995, but I need help with finding the prices.
3210
3211goc
3212A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
3213goc
3214Members
32157478 posts
3216Location:Virginia
3217Report post 
3218Posted March 1, 2013
3219Superbrawl V - Baltimore Arena; Baltimore, MD 2/19/1995 - $24.95
3220
3221Uncensored - $27.50 ($32.50 for day of the event orders (which Dave says is most of them and I'm sure screws up your formula)
3222
3223Slamboree - $27.50 ($32.50)
3224
3225Great American Bash - $27.50($32.50)
3226
3227Bash at the Beach - $27.50 ($32.50)
3228
3229Fall Brawl - $27.50 ($32.50)
3230
3231Halloween Havoc - $27.50 ($32.50)
3232
3233World War 3 - $27.50 ($32.50)
3234
3235Starrcade - $27.50 ($32.50)
3236
3237 
3238
3239 
3240
3241WWF
3242
3243Royal Rumble - $24.95
3244
3245WrestleMania - $29.95
3246
3247In Your House -$14.95
3248
3249King of The Ring $24.95
3250
3251IYH 2: $14.95
3252
3253SummerSlam - $27.50
3254
3255IYH 3 - $14.95
3256
3257Survivor Series - $24.95
3258
3259IYH 4 - $14.95
3260
3261IYH 5 - $14.95
3262
3263Guest Nell Santucci
3264Guest Nell Santucci
3265Guests
3266Report post 
3267Posted March 2, 2013
3268  goc said:
3269Superbrawl V - Baltimore Arena; Baltimore, MD 2/19/1995 - $24.95
3270
3271Uncensored - $27.50 ($32.50 for day of the event orders (which Dave says is most of them and I'm sure screws up your formula)
3272
3273Slamboree - $27.50 ($32.50)
3274
3275Great American Bash - $27.50($32.50)
3276
3277Bash at the Beach - $27.50 ($32.50)
3278
3279Fall Brawl - $27.50 ($32.50)
3280
3281Halloween Havoc - $27.50 ($32.50)
3282
3283World War 3 - $27.50 ($32.50)
3284
3285Starrcade - $27.50 ($32.50)
3286
3287 
3288
3289 
3290
3291WWF
3292
3293Royal Rumble - $24.95
3294
3295WrestleMania - $29.95
3296
3297In Your House -$14.95
3298
3299King of The Ring $24.95
3300
3301IYH 2: $14.95
3302
3303SummerSlam - $27.50
3304
3305IYH 3 - $14.95
3306
3307Survivor Series - $24.95
3308
3309IYH 4 - $14.95
3310
3311IYH 5 - $14.95
3312
3313Wow, thanks a ton. That saves me hours, if not days, of technical research.
3314
3315 
3316
3317No, the WCW PPV price range won't affect my formula. Let $27.50 = p1, and let $32.50 = p2. So we have
3318
3319 
3320
3321B1 = T / (P1 x .46) and B2 = T / (P2 x .46)
3322
3323 
3324
3325where B1 and B2 are PPV buys with respect to some fixed price. Since there is an inverse relationship between price of the PPV for some fixed revenue T, i.e. cheaper prices imply more buys,
3326
3327 
3328
3329B2 < B < B1
3330
3331 
3332
3333where B is the theoretical number of buys, B2 is reflected by the more expensive price tag for some fixed revenue T, and B1 is reflected by the more expensive price tag for some fixed revenue T. On a technical issue, the variance between B1 and B2 won't be that significant, but it will be significant enough to change its ranking by a few points if one were to rank PPV buys in a here.
3334
3335 
3336
3337 
3338
3339 
3340
3341Now, here is the more arbitrary component to all this. We know by the empirical record that most PPV buys are impulse buys, i.e. most will happen on the day of the show and hence the buyer will be charged the price p2. Let's take some arbitrary percentage k for the number of buys on Sunday. Then, we have
3342
3343 
3344
3345B = [b1 x (1 - k)] + (B2 x k), where B1 are the pre-Sunday buys (and will be significantly less than k since PPV buys are mostly impulse buys) and B2 are the Sunday and replay buys. So that fact lets us derive that
3346
3347 
3348
3349k >> 1 - k for all 0 < k ≤ 1.
3350
3351 
3352
3353 
3354
3355I suppose the difficult part is determining what k is. I have no clue what k is, but the advantage of our formula is that there shouldn't be a huge deviation between B1 and B2, i.e. by more than 40,000 buys, if that's even possible in the applied sense. But here are some facts:
3356
3357 
3358
33591.) If we choose a reasonable k and fix for k for all WCW PPVs, then if there exists variance, it'll be for a fixed variance for all those PPVs,
3360
33612.) Since the difference between B1 and B2 isn't that great to begin with, a reasonable k will put B closer to B1 than to B2,
3362
33633.) Finally, we're rounding anyway, as expecting exact numbers is a fool's errand. So say if B1 is 83,323 and B2 is 97,477 with k being .75, that gives B as 93,939. Rounding down by a few thousand, we get 90,000 buys (roughly).
3364
3365 
3366
3367 
3368
3369What's important is to not get bogged down in autistic technicalities; rather, we just want a reasonable list to tell us what was selling that year and what wasn't.
3370
3371 
3372
3373Alas, I have decided to make k = .75. If anyone has a better number, then k can be changed. But for now, I'm sticking to .75, though I doubt it'll make a difference due to rounding error.
3374
3375Guest Nell Santucci
3376Guest Nell Santucci
3377Guests
3378Report post 
3379Posted March 2, 2013
3380Two things so far that really stand out to me:
3381
3382 
3383
33841.) Hogan and Vader drew really well on PPV, so much so that not only did all their matches draw within a neighborhood of 200,000 buys but that they practically doubled nearly all other cards including Savage/Flair (which was outdrawn by a Hogan/Vader tag team match anyway). Eric Bischoff was really dumb to let Vader go, but I suppose that's one strike amongst many showing Bischoff to have no practical intuition concerning his pocket book.
3385
3386 
3387
33882.) British Bulldog was a really shitty draw, I mean to the extent that he was the WWF's anti-Vader. Now, I don't have the Dec. 1995 IYH number, but I do know that their buyrate is the lowest in company history, so I'm expecting around 80,000 buys.
3389
3390goc
3391A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
3392goc
3393Members
33947478 posts
3395Location:Virginia
3396Report post 
3397Posted March 2, 2013
3398  Nell Santucci said:
3399Two things so far that really stand out to me:
3400
3401 
3402
34031.) Hogan and Vader drew really well on PPV, so much so that not only did all their matches draw within a neighborhood of 200,000 buys but that they practically doubled nearly all other cards including Savage/Flair (which was outdrawn by a Hogan/Vader tag team match anyway). Eric Bischoff was really dumb to let Vader go, but I suppose that's one strike amongst many showing Bischoff to have no practical intuition concerning his pocket book.
3404
3405 
3406
34072.) British Bulldog was a really shitty draw, I mean to the extent that he was the WWF's anti-Vader. Now, I don't have the Dec. 1995 IYH number, but I do know that their buyrate is the lowest in company history, so I'm expecting around 80,000 buys.
3408
3409I kind of think the Vader drawing power had been pretty hurt by all the jobs to Hogan, especially Hogan popping up from the Powerbomb. They were planning on turning him face anyway, and if he wouldn't have been programmed against Hogan anymore, then he would no longer be put in a position to draw anyway.
3410Guest Nell Santucci
3411Guest Nell Santucci
3412Guests
3413Report post 
3414Posted March 2, 2013
3415  goc said:
3416  Nell Santucci said:
3417Two things so far that really stand out to me:
3418
3419 
3420
34211.) Hogan and Vader drew really well on PPV, so much so that not only did all their matches draw within a neighborhood of 200,000 buys but that they practically doubled nearly all other cards including Savage/Flair (which was outdrawn by a Hogan/Vader tag team match anyway). Eric Bischoff was really dumb to let Vader go, but I suppose that's one strike amongst many showing Bischoff to have no practical intuition concerning his pocket book.
3422
3423 
3424
34252.) British Bulldog was a really shitty draw, I mean to the extent that he was the WWF's anti-Vader. Now, I don't have the Dec. 1995 IYH number, but I do know that their buyrate is the lowest in company history, so I'm expecting around 80,000 buys.
3426
3427I kind of think the Vader drawing power had been pretty hurt by all the jobs to Hogan, especially Hogan popping up from the Powerbomb. They were planning on turning him face anyway, and if he wouldn't have been programmed against Hogan anymore, then he would no longer be put in a position to draw anyway.
3428 
3429
3430That is true, but it only speaks to the dichotomy of Hogan being essential for the company's survival and Hogan being a major contributing factor to the company's downfall.
3431
3432 
3433
3434Do you have the 1994 PPV prices? I'm sure it'll be easier to calculate. Only WCW would make my formula more involved than it had to be.
3435
3436goc
3437A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
3438goc
3439Members
34407478 posts
3441Location:Virginia
3442Report post 
3443Posted March 3, 2013
3444They changed all the prices after Superbrawl to account for Hogan's take. Seeing as Superbrawl was $24.95 ($27.50) I would guess that's the price for all the 1994 PPVs.
3445
3446Guest Nell Santucci
3447Guest Nell Santucci
3448Guests
3449Report post 
3450Posted March 3, 2013
3451  goc said:
3452They changed all the prices after Superbrawl to account for Hogan's take. Seeing as Superbrawl was $24.95 ($27.50) I would guess that's the price for all the 1994 PPVs.
3453
3454That would be my guess too, but I don't want to asterik all my numbers and say that I guessed because there are just so many other events to worry about, frankly. I must say that I've been tracking WCW PPV preview shows to see if I can get a price and, unlike WWF, WCW wouldn't even announce a price for the PPV many times. Only WCW. . .where Southerners and not bureaucratic incompetence get scapegoated for being bush league.
3455
3456 
3457
3458I have the 1994 numbers, so all I need are the prices. I'll find what I can.
3459
3460 
3461
3462Thanks so much for your help. You are a saint.
3463
3464 
3465
3466Almost all the 1995 numbers are up. What's notable is that the Royal Rumble outdrew SummerSlam. Was that its first time in history? Maybe. I judge that by the fact that SummerSlam had a higher price tag, so the internal WWF perception was that SummerSlam > Royal Rumble. So Bret Hart v. Diesel and the Royal Rumble match outdrew Diesel v. Mabel and Shawn Michaels v. Razor Ramon in a ladder match. Très interessant !
3467
3468Guest Nell Santucci
3469Guest Nell Santucci
3470Guests
3471Report post 
3472Posted March 3, 2013
3473Correction on a number: WWF cut the SummerSlam 1995 price from $27.50 to $24.95. So I'll correct that buy right now.
3474
3475Guest Nell Santucci
3476Guest Nell Santucci
3477Guests
3478Report post 
3479Posted March 3, 2013
3480Using some slick searching skills, it seems like the first WCW PPV to go $24.95 was the 1992 Starrcade. Before that, the prices were $19.99.
3481
3482 
3483
3484Research question: Were WCW PPV prices ever lower than $19.99?
3485
3486Jmare007
3487Jmare007
3488Members
34892218 posts
3490Report post 
3491Posted March 3, 2013
3492This is awesome Nell. I would have thought the numbers for 1995 were even worse than that. Although I guess shit really hit the fan in 96' and 97'.
3493
3494Guest Nell Santucci
3495Guest Nell Santucci
3496Guests
3497Report post 
3498Posted March 3, 2013
34991994 WCW numbers are up. It's crazy to see just how good of a draw Hogan was in 1994. I mean, the guy literally doubled buys.
3500
3501Guest Nell Santucci
3502Guest Nell Santucci
3503Guests
3504Report post 
3505Posted March 3, 2013
35061993 WCW PPV numbers are up.
3507
3508Guest Nell Santucci
3509Guest Nell Santucci
3510Guests
3511Report post 
3512Posted March 3, 2013
35131994 WWF PPV numbers are up. I just need a citation for Wrestlemania X and virtually any other buyrate that Meltzer has talked about in the past few years, so I won't have to use my formula (which ranges from spot-on to being off by, at most, 15,000 buys).
3514
3515Jmare007
3516Jmare007
3517Members
35182218 posts
3519Report post 
3520Posted March 3, 2013
3521Don't know how useful this info is but there is a "Misc ECW/TNA/ROH etc" part so..
3522
3523 
3524
3525Here's what I've got for iPPVs
3526
3527 
3528
3529ROH:
3530
3531 
3532
3533  Quote
35342010:
3535
3536 
3537
3538The Big Bang - 900 aprox.
3539
3540Death Before Dishonor VIII - 1,100 aprox.
3541
3542Glory By Honor IX - 1,300 aprox.
3543
3544Final Battle - 1,750 aprox.
3545
3546 
3547
35482011:
3549
3550 
3551
35529th Anniversary Show - 1,500 aprox.
3553
3554Honor Takes Center Stage - 1,725 aprox. (each show drew similarly)
3555
3556Best in the World - 2,100 prox.
3557
3558Final Battle - 2,000 aprox.
3559
3560 
3561
35622012:
3563
3564 
3565
356610th Anniversary show - 2,000 buys aprox.
3567
3568Boiling Point - 650 aprox.
3569
3570Glory By Honor XI - 1,500 aprox.
3571
3572Final Battle - 2,000 aprox.
3573
3574CHIKARA:
3575
3576  Quote
35772012:
3578
3579 
3580
3581Under the Hood - 1,025 buys aprox.
3582
3583New Japan:
3584  Quote
35852012:
3586
3587 
3588
3589G-1 Climax, Day 4 (8/5) - 20,000 buys aprox.
3590
3591King Of Pro Wrestling - 55,000 aprox.
3592
3593Power Struggle -???
3594
3595World Tag League, Final Day (12/2) - ???
3596
3597 
3598
35992013:
3600
3601 
3602
3603Wrestle Kingdom VII - 100,000 buys aprox.
3604
3605New Beginning - 91,000 aprox.
3606
3607 
3608
3609I have no idea how legit this TNA numbers are, just stumbled across a big list of estimates on "tnawrestling101.com" but no clue if Meltzer is the source:
3610
3611  Quote
3612Victory Road 2004 20-25,000
3613
3614Turning Point 2004 15-20,000
3615
3616 
3617
3618Final Resolution 2005 15-20,000
3619
3620Against All Odds 2005 15-20,000
3621
3622Destination X 2005 15-20,000
3623
3624Lockdown 2005 25-30,000
3625
3626Hard Justice 2005 15-20,000
3627
3628Slammiversary 2005 15-20,000
3629
3630No Surrender 2005 10-15,000
3631
3632Sacrifice 2005 10-15,000
3633
3634Unbreakable 2005 10-15,000
3635
3636Bound For Glory 2005 30-35,000
3637
3638Genesis 2005 15-20,000
3639
3640Turning Point 2005 25-30,000
3641
36422005 Average 17-22,000
3643
3644 
3645
3646Final Resolution 2006 40-45,000
3647
3648Against All Odds 2006 30-35,000
3649
3650Destination X 2006 25-30,000
3651
3652Lockdown 2006 40-45,000
3653
3654Sacrifice 2006 20-25,000
3655
3656Slammiversary 2006 30-35,000
3657
3658Victory Road 2006 20-25,000
3659
3660Hard Justice 2006 30-35,000
3661
3662No Surrender 2006 25-30,000
3663
3664Bound For Glory 2006 55-60,000
3665
3666Genesis 2006 55-60,000
3667
3668Turning Point 2006 30-35,000
3669
3670 
3671
3672Final Resolution 2007 30-35,000
3673
3674Against All Odds 2007 20-25,000
3675
3676Destination X 2007 25-30,000
3677
3678Lockdown 2007 30-35,000
3679
3680Sacrifice 2007 20-25,000
3681
3682Slammiversary 2007 20-25,000
3683
3684Victory Road 2007 15-20,000
3685
3686Hard Justice 2007 20-25,000
3687
3688No Surrender 2007 15-20,000
3689
3690Bound For Glory 2007 35-40,000
3691
3692Genesis 2007 20-25,000
3693
3694Turning Point 2007 15-20,000
3695
3696 
3697
3698Final Resolution 2008 20-25,000
3699
3700Against All Odds 2008 20-25,000
3701
3702Destination X 2008 15-20,000
3703
3704Lockdown 2008 50-55,000
3705
3706Sacrifice 2008 20-25,000
3707
3708Slammiversary 2008 25-30,000
3709
3710Victory Road 2008 20-25,000
3711
3712Hard Justice 2008 30-35,000
3713
3714No Surrender 2008 15-20,000
3715
3716Bound For Glory 2008 35-40,000
3717
3718Turning Point 2008 30-35,000
3719
3720 
3721
3722Genesis 2009 25-30,000
3723
3724Against All Odds 2009 15-20,000
3725
3726Destination X 2009 25-30,000
3727
3728Lockdown 2009 35-40,000
3729
3730Sacrifice 2009 15-20,000
3731
3732Slammiversary 2009 30-35,000
3733
3734Guest Nell Santucci
3735Guest Nell Santucci
3736Guests
3737Report post 
3738Posted March 3, 2013
3739  Jmare007 said:
3740Don't know how useful this info is but there is a "Misc ECW/TNA/ROH etc" part so..
3741
3742 
3743
3744Here's what I've got for iPPVs
3745
3746 
3747
3748ROH:
3749
3750 
3751
3752  Quote
37532010:
3754
3755 
3756
3757The Big Bang - 900 aprox.
3758
3759Death Before Dishonor VIII - 1,100 aprox.
3760
3761Glory By Honor IX - 1,300 aprox.
3762
3763Final Battle - 1,750 aprox.
3764
3765 
3766
37672011:
3768
3769 
3770
37719th Anniversary Show - 1,500 aprox.
3772
3773Honor Takes Center Stage - 1,725 aprox. (each show drew similarly)
3774
3775Best in the World - 2,100 prox.
3776
3777Final Battle - 2,000 aprox.
3778
3779 
3780
37812012:
3782
3783 
3784
378510th Anniversary show - 2,000 buys aprox.
3786
3787Boiling Point - 650 aprox.
3788
3789Glory By Honor XI - 1,500 aprox.
3790
3791Final Battle - 2,000 aprox.
3792
3793CHIKARA:
3794
3795  Quote
37962012:
3797
3798 
3799
3800Under the Hood - 1,025 buys aprox.
3801
3802New Japan:
3803  Quote
38042012:
3805
3806 
3807
3808G-1 Climax, Day 4 (8/5) - 20,000 buys aprox.
3809
3810King Of Pro Wrestling - 55,000 aprox.
3811
3812Power Struggle -???
3813
3814World Tag League, Final Day (12/2) - ???
3815
3816 
3817
38182013:
3819
3820 
3821
3822Wrestle Kingdom VII - 100,000 buys aprox.
3823
3824New Beginning - 91,000 aprox.
3825
3826 
3827
3828I have no idea how legit this TNA numbers are, just stumbled across a big list of estimates on "tnawrestling101.com" but no clue if Meltzer is the source:
3829
3830  Quote
3831Victory Road 2004 20-25,000
3832
3833Turning Point 2004 15-20,000
3834
3835 
3836
3837Final Resolution 2005 15-20,000
3838
3839Against All Odds 2005 15-20,000
3840
3841Destination X 2005 15-20,000
3842
3843Lockdown 2005 25-30,000
3844
3845Hard Justice 2005 15-20,000
3846
3847Slammiversary 2005 15-20,000
3848
3849No Surrender 2005 10-15,000
3850
3851Sacrifice 2005 10-15,000
3852
3853Unbreakable 2005 10-15,000
3854
3855Bound For Glory 2005 30-35,000
3856
3857Genesis 2005 15-20,000
3858
3859Turning Point 2005 25-30,000
3860
38612005 Average 17-22,000
3862
3863 
3864
3865Final Resolution 2006 40-45,000
3866
3867Against All Odds 2006 30-35,000
3868
3869Destination X 2006 25-30,000
3870
3871Lockdown 2006 40-45,000
3872
3873Sacrifice 2006 20-25,000
3874
3875Slammiversary 2006 30-35,000
3876
3877Victory Road 2006 20-25,000
3878
3879Hard Justice 2006 30-35,000
3880
3881No Surrender 2006 25-30,000
3882
3883Bound For Glory 2006 55-60,000
3884
3885Genesis 2006 55-60,000
3886
3887Turning Point 2006 30-35,000
3888
3889 
3890
3891Final Resolution 2007 30-35,000
3892
3893Against All Odds 2007 20-25,000
3894
3895Destination X 2007 25-30,000
3896
3897Lockdown 2007 30-35,000
3898
3899Sacrifice 2007 20-25,000
3900
3901Slammiversary 2007 20-25,000
3902
3903Victory Road 2007 15-20,000
3904
3905Hard Justice 2007 20-25,000
3906
3907No Surrender 2007 15-20,000
3908
3909Bound For Glory 2007 35-40,000
3910
3911Genesis 2007 20-25,000
3912
3913Turning Point 2007 15-20,000
3914
3915 
3916
3917Final Resolution 2008 20-25,000
3918
3919Against All Odds 2008 20-25,000
3920
3921Destination X 2008 15-20,000
3922
3923Lockdown 2008 50-55,000
3924
3925Sacrifice 2008 20-25,000
3926
3927Slammiversary 2008 25-30,000
3928
3929Victory Road 2008 20-25,000
3930
3931Hard Justice 2008 30-35,000
3932
3933No Surrender 2008 15-20,000
3934
3935Bound For Glory 2008 35-40,000
3936
3937Turning Point 2008 30-35,000
3938
3939 
3940
3941Genesis 2009 25-30,000
3942
3943Against All Odds 2009 15-20,000
3944
3945Destination X 2009 25-30,000
3946
3947Lockdown 2009 35-40,000
3948
3949Sacrifice 2009 15-20,000
3950
3951Slammiversary 2009 30-35,000
3952
3953Thanks. It'll be useful in the long-term should we want to expand. But for now, we have our work cut out for us. I will say, and I'll share this story later, that I've done a test that basically proves the formula to be tremendously accurate. Anyway, just make sure you cite where you got these numbers from as it makes me want to scream when I see conflicting numbers.
3954
3955Guest Nell Santucci
3956Guest Nell Santucci
3957Guests
3958Report post 
3959Posted March 4, 2013
3960I must admit to having been worried when I got the SummerSlam 1992 numbers. First, my formula said the event did 285,000 buys. Second, a source said it did 200,000, which is way too wide of a deviation. Then I checked Sean Liska's buys, and it matched. For the record, 1993's match as well.
3961
3962 
3963
3964*chipping away*
3965
3966Guest Nell Santucci
3967Guest Nell Santucci
3968Guests
3969Report post 
3970Posted March 4, 2013
3971The initial numbers I got had to be really off. The 1992 SummerSlam was said to have done 200,000. My formula shows it did 285,000, which agreed with Meltzer's numbers. Also, the 1992 Survivor Series was said to have done 190,000, but my formula says it did around 250,000. I don't even know where these numbers came from. Citations are a life-saver.
3972
3973Guest Nell Santucci
3974Guest Nell Santucci
3975Guests
3976Report post 
3977Posted March 4, 2013
3978I'm really struck by how well SummerSlam 1994 drew (300,000). That means it outdrew 1992 when average business in 1994 was much worse (and therefore fewer potential buyers). Was the Undertaker v. Undertaker match the draw? Bret/Owen in the cage?
3979
3980goc
3981A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
3982goc
3983Members
39847478 posts
3985Location:Virginia
3986Report post 
3987Posted March 4, 2013
3988I don't have 94 Observers but I would guess it was the Taker vs Taker match. While the match sucked, it was a very unique build and I'm guessing it was different enough that people wanted to see which was the "real" Taker.
3989
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3999
4000GO TO TOPIC LISTING
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4021 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
4022 Sign in to follow this   
4023Guest The Jiz
4024A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
4025By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
4026 PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT  Page 5 of 7  
4027Guest Nell Santucci
4028Guest Nell Santucci
4029Guests
4030Report post 
4031Posted March 4, 2013
4032  goc said:
4033I don't have 94 Observers but I would guess it was the Taker vs Taker match. While the match sucked, it was a very unique build and I'm guessing it was different enough that people wanted to see which was the "real" Taker.
4034
4035I remember Brian Lee's Undertaker being several inches shorter than the Mark Calaway's Undertaker, so it surprises me that the angle got over so well. But I think a large part of the draw is just the fact that it'd be the Undertaker's first match in 8 months. He was a good draw at the time as his feud with Yokozuna did a good house.
4036
4037 
4038
4039https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMszMuerW5w
4040
4041 
4042
4043It's hilarious in that Lee sounded nothing like him.
4044
4045 
4046
4047
4048 
4049
4050It's nuts to think they had Tatanka do a clean job to get him over, as I thought Tatanka was not only one of their protected faces but was also in a program to go against Lex Luger over DiBiase. Lawler's anti-Tatanka remarks are legitimately funny.
4051
4052 
4053
4054
4055 
4056
4057Lawler's just too funny. It's unfortunate that he just no longer has his wits about him. Calling the fans who questioned the "Undertaker"'s identity "Doubting Thomas'" had me laughing.
4058
4059Matt D
40604:40
4061Matt D
4062Members
406311791 posts
4064Report post 
4065Posted March 7, 2013
4066I'm really curious about the 92 Bash relative to Beach Blast. it was a Tag Tournament with much less heated stuff top to bottom than Beach Blast, and Vader vs Sting on top which WAS fresh and built off a strong Vader attack on Sting.
4067
4068Guest Nell Santucci
4069Guest Nell Santucci
4070Guests
4071Report post 
4072Posted March 7, 2013
4073  Matt D said:
4074I'm really curious about the 92 Bash relative to Beach Blast. it was a Tag Tournament with much less heated stuff top to bottom than Beach Blast, and Vader vs Sting on top which WAS fresh and built off a strong Vader attack on Sting.
4075
4076Let me try and get those numbers later today.
4077
4078JerryvonKramer
4079JerryvonKramer
4080DVDVR 80s Project
408111412 posts
4082Report post 
4083Posted March 7, 2013
408492 WCW has got to have the biggest gap between PPV quality and audience numbers in history.
4085
4086 
4087
4088I seem to recall Beach Blast has Steiners vs. Gordy and Williams on last though, not any of the matches you'd expect.
4089
4090WingedEagle
4091WingedEagle
4092Members
40936091 posts
4094Report post 
4095Posted March 7, 2013
4096Correct, they closed it with that rather than Sting vs. Cactus or Steamer/Rude. I wonder if they had to guarantee the MVC a couple main events as part of bringing them over.
4097
4098JerryvonKramer
4099JerryvonKramer
4100DVDVR 80s Project
410111412 posts
4102Report post 
4103Posted March 7, 2013
4104Watts had a major major *major* hardon for Gordy and Williams.
4105
4106 
4107
4108I'd argue they are the most pushed to the moon tagteam in any major promotion ever -- and that includes Road Warriors in the 80s.
4109
4110 
4111
4112Bash 92 is a tournament for the newly made NWA Tag Titles, MVC were ALREADY WCW tag champs and they basically romp through that tournament and win those belts too.
4113
4114 
4115
4116I'm not sure if Gordy and Williams ate a pin to anyone in that 6 months. Monster team of all monster teams.
4117
4118 
4119
4120Still, never really understood why Watts had them going on last all the time.
4121
4122 
4123
4124It's a weird period. Ron Simmons is champ for much of 92 and he hardly ever headlined any of the shows.
4125
4126Dooley
4127Dooley
4128Members
4129730 posts
4130Report post 
4131Posted March 7, 2013
4132  Nell Santucci said:
4133
4134 
4135
4136It's nuts to think they had Tatanka do a clean job to get him over, as I thought Tatanka was not only one of their protected faces but was also in a program to go against Lex Luger over DiBiase. Lawler's anti-Tatanka remarks are legitimately funny.
4137
4138That also played in to Tatanka joining DiBiase at Summerslam. It makes sense that he'd "lie down" for Dibiase's Taker leading up to the event in exchange for the money.
4139
4140Matt D
41414:40
4142Matt D
4143Members
414411791 posts
4145Report post 
4146Posted March 7, 2013
4147  JerryvonKramer said:
414892 WCW has got to have the biggest gap between PPV quality and audience numbers in history.
4149
4150 
4151
4152I seem to recall Beach Blast has Steiners vs. Gordy and Williams on last though, not any of the matches you'd expect.
4153
4154I've been watching WCW Pro Chicago. They were calling Steamboat vs Rude the main event and I don't think Steiners vs Gordy/Williams got much of any build at all on the C show.
4155
4156 
4157
4158The first few months of 92 is one of my key watching times as a kid, but I stopped watching halfway through the year. I didn't realize Vader was such a transitional champion.
4159
4160JerryvonKramer
4161JerryvonKramer
4162DVDVR 80s Project
416311412 posts
4164Report post 
4165Posted March 7, 2013
4166It was a key period for me too. Do you remember when the Dangerous Alliance were all in tuxedos that one night? I remember swaggering around my room pretending I was one of them. Just the coolest fucking stable ever. I also remember the Jesse Ventura arm wrestling tournament with Ice Train being a big part of it.
4167
4168 
4169
4170Seriously though, I loved the Dangerous Alliance so much -- just loved Arn Anderson and Rick Rude. Wanted to see that Wargames so much, but we never got to see it.
4171
4172 
4173
4174Something weird happened and our TV fastforwarded about 5 or 6 months in the space of a week so we went from the summer of 92 to sometime in 93 with Flair for the Gold and Bagwell and Scorpio being pushed.
4175
4176Jmare007
4177Jmare007
4178Members
41792218 posts
4180Report post 
4181Posted March 8, 2013
4182After listening to the PTB podcasts with Kevin Kelly and the Rumble 99'. I'm really curious about St. Valentine's Day Massacre numbers. They were on a roll at the time and that was the ultimate Vince vs Austin match on PPV.
4183
4184Matt D
41854:40
4186Matt D
4187Members
418811791 posts
4189Report post 
4190Posted March 8, 2013
4191  JerryvonKramer said:
4192It was a key period for me too. Do you remember when the Dangerous Alliance were all in tuxedos that one night? I remember swaggering around my room pretending I was one of them. Just the coolest fucking stable ever. I also remember the Jesse Ventura arm wrestling tournament with Ice Train being a big part of it.
4193
4194 
4195
4196Seriously though, I loved the Dangerous Alliance so much -- just loved Arn Anderson and Rick Rude. Wanted to see that Wargames so much, but we never got to see it.
4197
4198 
4199
4200Something weird happened and our TV fastforwarded about 5 or 6 months in the space of a week so we went from the summer of 92 to sometime in 93 with Flair for the Gold and Bagwell and Scorpio being pushed.
4201
4202The Paulies. Amazingly the DAs won them all.
4203
4204Jmare007
4205Jmare007
4206Members
42072218 posts
4208Report post 
4209Posted May 25, 2013
4210  Quote
4211- WWE released the number of preliminary PPV buys for WrestleMania 29. The preliminary number is 1,048,000 million buys according to WWE's latest monthly business figures released this week.
4212
4213 
4214
4215A breakdown of domestic and international PPV numbers was not included in the report. However, the event is likely to turn out to be the highest-grossing PPV event in WWE history because of the PPV price increase, more ways to watch the event, and a great proportion of higher-priced HD purchases over standard definition.
4216
4217 
4218
4219The final PPV buy total is said to be released in the Second Quarter 2013 earnings around August. Once all buys are accounted for, the final number will likely be rounded out to about 1.1 million buys.
4220
4221 
4222
4223Below is a comparison of WrestleMania PPV buys from the last five years:
4224
4225 
4226
42272009 - 960,000 buys
4228
42292010 - 885,000 buys
4230
42312011 - 1,059,000 buys
4232
42332012 - 1,217,000 buys
4234
42352013 - 1,048,000 buys (prelim. figure)
4236
4237Guest Nell Santucci
4238Guest Nell Santucci
4239Guests
4240Report post 
4241Posted May 29, 2013
4242  Jmare007 said:
4243  Quote
4244- WWE released the number of preliminary PPV buys for WrestleMania 29. The preliminary number is 1,048,000 million buys according to WWE's latest monthly business figures released this week.
4245
4246 
4247
4248A breakdown of domestic and international PPV numbers was not included in the report. However, the event is likely to turn out to be the highest-grossing PPV event in WWE history because of the PPV price increase, more ways to watch the event, and a great proportion of higher-priced HD purchases over standard definition.
4249
4250 
4251
4252The final PPV buy total is said to be released in the Second Quarter 2013 earnings around August. Once all buys are accounted for, the final number will likely be rounded out to about 1.1 million buys.
4253
4254 
4255
4256Below is a comparison of WrestleMania PPV buys from the last five years:
4257
4258 
4259
42602009 - 960,000 buys
4261
42622010 - 885,000 buys
4263
42642011 - 1,059,000 buys
4265
42662012 - 1,217,000 buys
4267
42682013 - 1,048,000 buys (prelim. figure)
4269
4270I'm glad that I was on the mark with buyrate predictions for Wrestlemania despite higher ratings this year to last year. That was an uninspiring card.
4271
4272mookeighana
4273mookieghana
4274mookeighana
4275Members
4276492 posts
4277Location:Saint Paul, MN
4278Report post 
4279Posted June 19, 2013
4280I, too, have long felt the pain of trying to extract credible information about number of PPV buys for historical events - especially anything prior to WWF going public.
4281
4282 
4283
4284One thing that has been exceptionally hard to track down is "total number of PPV capable homes" so there is some basis to try and convert a 1.0 buyrate into something meanful.
4285
4286 
4287
4288After an exhaustive search, I did come across a very useful table on page 871 (Appendix C) in "Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting" which cites a "TV Dimensions 2000" study from Media Dimensions which in turn was based on a Statistical Research, Inc. "SMART TV Ownership Survey, Spring 1999". (If you go to the amazon page, do a "search inside" and type in "Kagan" you should find the table as the second hit.)
4289
4290 
4291
4292Posted Image
4293
4294 
4295
4296If I'm reading this table right and doing the multiplication of cable homes x PPV available, it would suggest PPV-capable homes were:
4297
4298 
4299
43001985 5,451,000
4301
43021986 6,265,600
4303
43041987 7,504,200
4305
43061988 9,195,900
4307
43081989 13,666,900
4309
43101990 16,461,300
4311
43121991 20,082,960
4313
43141992 24,029,040
4315
43161993 28,240,320
4317
43181994 31,457,400
4319
43201995 31,478,000
4321
43221996 34,913,160
4323
43241997 36,260,950
4325
43261998 36,856,050
4327
43281999 39,752,040
4329
4330 
4331
4332Now, this doesn't include Satellite/DISH availablity.
4333
4334 
4335
4336This is generally in line with some of the other estimates of PPV availablity (addressible cable systems, as some publications called it). Here were some of the other datapoints I collected:
4337
43381982 (600,000 homes) - NYTimes 1/20/2000
4339
43401989 (11 million homes) - Time Magazine 3/6/1989
4341
43421991 (15 million homes)
4343
43441992 (20 million homes)
4345
43461992 (15.2 of 54.1 cable) - Paul Kagan in NY Times 1992
4347
43481992 (22 million homes) - addressable
4349
43502000 (45 million homes) - NYTimes 1/20/2000
4351
43522005 (53.5 million homes)
4353
43542007 (51.6 million units)
4355
4356 
4357
4358I also came across an interesting tidbit from Broadcasting Cable 5/6/2000 which listed the "Top pay-per-view events by Category (1990-1999)".
4359
4360Posted Image
4361
4362 
4363
4364I was surprised to see Slamboree 1995 listed but Starrcade 1997 not.
4365
4366 
4367
4368Lastly, some other things I've seen:
4369
4370* Wrestlemania IV had a reported 900,000 takers last March (the largest audience yet claimed for a PPV event) - Time magazine 3/6/1989
4371
4372* Wrestlemania III = 520,000 buys = $10.3 million in PPV revenue - Reel of fortune: a discussion of the critical business and legal issues affecting film and television today (published 1987)
4373
4374* Cable Vision 1993 - Titan Sports (1.5 to 2 buyrate for normal WWF events, 3 to 4 buyrate for Wrestlemania, WCW buyrate is 1 percent)
4375
4376JNLister
4377JNLister
4378Members
4379359 posts
4380Report post 
4381Posted June 19, 2013
4382The Broadcasting Cable list is utterly wacky. Slamboree 95 actually did a 0.57 buyrate, which would be a couple of hundred thousand. WrestleMania in 1998 is nowhere to be seen in the list.
4383
4384 
4385
4386What with WM7 being listed there, I suspect the real source is "claims by the promotion". Either that or Showtime Event Television (which was Showtime's PPV distribution right?) is extrapolating from its own numbers and they are so tiny as to make such extrapolation highly unreliable.
4387
4388Bix
4389Bix
4390DVDVR 80s Project
43916273 posts
4392Report post 
4393Posted June 19, 2013
4394I just wanna know where Mookie is getting back issues of Broadcasting & Cable.
4395
4396mookeighana
4397mookieghana
4398mookeighana
4399Members
4400492 posts
4401Location:Saint Paul, MN
4402Report post 
4403Posted June 19, 2013
4404  Bix said:
4405I just wanna know where Mookie is getting back issues of Broadcasting & Cable.
4406
4407Saint Paul Public Library Research Portal.
4408
4409 
4410
4411Amazing amount of magazines and journals have been digitized and you can search keywords.
4412
4413 
4414
4415I found a trove of pieces from 1998-2002 just reliving the lawsuit to move RAW to TNN (including descriptions of USA pilots to replace RAW including a amazingly bad Nora Dunn pilot as a detective with mom instincts), PTC complaints, Bischoff is buying WCW wait nope he ain't and more. Biggest sources have been Electronic Media, Advertising Age (some Meltzer quotes), Broadcasting and Cable and the obscure ones like WWF buys a soundboard making a wacky trade journal. And able to get full text from random magazine articles like Forbes 1985 and Time magazine 1989 stories on PPV.
4416
4417Charles (Loss)
4418Charles (Loss)
4419Admins
442044846 posts
4421Report post 
4422Posted June 20, 2013
4423Awesome!
4424
4425mookeighana
4426mookieghana
4427mookeighana
4428Members
4429492 posts
4430Location:Saint Paul, MN
4431Report post 
4432Posted June 20, 2013
4433Some other tidbits I collected from Multichannel News and other magazines:
4434
4435 
4436
4437"WCW Starrcade (1997)- Up until the December 1997 Starrcade event, the Time Warner lnc.-owned World Championship Wrestling outfit was considered by most industry observers second fiddle to the World Wrestling Federation. But after ringing up 625,000 buys and grossing $18 million - and then following up with other impressive PPV performances, the WCW clearly established itself as a force to be reckoned with for the future." - Multichannel News , March 1 1999 (Best of the Rest)
4438
4439 
4440
4441"Bash at the Beach (1997) - 500,000 buys said Jay Hassman, PPV director at Time Warner Inc." - Multichannel News, July 20 1998 (Mailman Delivers for Cable PPV Managers.)
4442
4443actual quote was " He predicted that the final tally (for 1998's Bash at the Beach) would indicate a total of around 600,000 buys. Hassman added that WCW was hoping only to match last year's Bash mark of 500,000 buys."
4444
4445 
4446
4447"Wrestlemania (1998) - Wrestlemania XIV event pulled in more than 700,000 buys, and that event still stands as the most successful PPV program of the year." - Multichannel News, June 22 1998
4448
4449 
4450
4451Halloween Havoc (1998) - 500k buys ".. bested WCW's previous high of approximately 500,000 buys, set in October (1998).. " - Multichannel News, Jan 12 1998
4452
4453 
4454
4455"The company is averaging between a 0.8 percent and a 0.9 percent, slightly above last year's figures." - regarding 1996 WCW PPV business, Multichannel News, Dec 2 1996
4456
4457 
4458
4459"Operators did say, however, that TitanSports' January WWF Royal Rumble (1995) and Turner Home Entertainment's February SuperBrawl V (1995) and March WCW Uncensored (1995) enjoyed moderate success." - Multichannel News, May 15 1995
4460
4461 
4462
4463Halloween havoc (1994): "Buoyed by the appearance of former World Wrestling Federation icon Hulk Hogan, Turner Home Entertainment's Oct. 20 Halloween Havoc drew nearly double the buy-rates normally associated with WCW events, operators said. Although Turner representatives could not be reached for comment, operators estimate the event, which featured Hogan and Ric Flair in a steel cage match, generated around a 1 percent buy-rate." -Multichannel News 10/31/94 (Turner wrestling scores)
4464
4465 
4466
4467Starrcade 1991: "Nationally, the event garnered a 1 percent buy-rate, according to industry sources." "Turner to try credit cards again." Multichannel News (April 20, 1992)
4468
4469 
4470
4471Halloween Havoc 1991: "..generated close to a 1 percent buy-rate" - "'Loyal' wrestling fans help Turner PPV event." Multichannel News 11/4/1992
4472
4473 
4474
4475"In fact, PPV wrestling accounted for approximately $72 million of the nearly $150 million generated by PPV events in 1990, said Sharon Sidello, vice president of PPV TV for Turner Home Entertainment. In the last few years, however, buy-rates for both WCW and WWF events have fallen. For example, 1991's Wrestlemania VII generated a 3.5 percent buy-rate, down from 1990's Wrestlemania VI's 4.5 percent buy-rate in 1990 and Wrestlemania V's 5.6 percent buy-rate in 1989. THE's Starcade series has also seen buy-rates fall from a 2 in 1989 to a 1.1 for last year's show, according to industry sources. Some industry observers point to an expansion of the PPV addressable universe as a reason for the shrinking buy-rates. But some operators finger the increase in prices for the events, particularly the WWF shows, as the primary cause of the decline. As buy-rates fell for Wrestlemania, the price rose from $24.95 for Wrestlemania V to $29.95 for Wrestlemania VI and VII. Similar patterns have occurred with SummerSlam (4.8 buy-rate at $18.50 in 1989, 4.3 buy-rate at $27.50 in 1990) and Royal Rumble (3.2 at $14.95 in 1989, 2.8 at $18 in 1990 and 2.2 at $22.50 in 1991)." - Multichannel News 12.n27 (July 8, 1991) "WWF, Turner wrestle with PPV problems"
4476
4477 
4478
4479Wrestlemania VII: "The event, which sold at a suggested retail of $29.95, generated around 800,000 buys and earned a preliminary buy-rate of 4.8 to 4.9 percent, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan's World Wrestling Federation. But industry sources inside the PPV industry estimated Wrestlemania VII buy-rates at 3.5 to 4, probably closer to the lower number. Those sources said last year's Wrestlemania earned a 5.0. "We're happy with it," Desjardin said. "Anytime you generate $24 million (PPV revenues) in one day, it's positive." Desjardin added, however, that the event was down from last year's, which generated 825,000 buys, a 5 percent buy-rate." - April 8, 1991 (Multichannel News) "'Wrestlemania VII' buys down"
4480
4481 
4482
4483Summerslam 1991: "Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for TitanSports, estimated that the event garnered a "disappointing" 3.6 percent buy-rate, 15 percent lower than last year's national buy-rate. Despite the low buy-rate, Desjardin said, the event "still generated a large amount of money for the industry." At 608,000 buys, Titan would have grossed roughly $16.7 million.Another operator said the WWF has hiked prices 45 percent since 1988, when the event was $18.50" - 9/2/91 Multichannel News "SummerSlam' PPV buy-rates termed disappointing."
4484
4485 
4486
4487Wrestlemania VIII: "The event generated a "very preliminary" buy-rate of under 4 percent, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. He added that the event will most likely fall below last year's event from both revenue and total-buy standpoints, although Titan only had 400 out of more than 2,000 systems reporting at presstime. Wrestlemania VII generated around a 3.5 percent buy-rate, according to sources." - April 13 1992 (Multichannel News) 'Wrestlemania VIII' buys slump.
4488
4489 
4490
4491WBF: "The event, the first for Titan's recently created bodybuilding federation, generated a 0.1 to 0.2 percent buy-rate, with a number of systems reporting numbers below 0.1 percent, accordipg to operators." (Multichannel News, Titan WBF event offers little lift - June 22 1992)
4492
4493 
4494
4495Summerslam 1993: "The event generated a little less than a 2 percent buy-rate, operators said, which would place it slightly below the 2.3 percent the show earned last year." -Multichannel News (9/6/93) "SummerSlam stems buy-rate skid. "
4496
4497 
4498
4499Summerslam 1994: "Buy-rates for the event were up as much as 10 percent over last year, said Titan Sports. The event generated nearly 400,000 buys, slightly above the 360,000 buys the event drew in 1993, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. Operators pegged the buy-rate at about a 1 to a 1.5 percent." - Multichannel News (9/12/94) "Pizza pies help Titan 'SummerSlam' score dough."
4500
4501 
4502
4503Wrestlemania 7 & Wrestlemania 1994: "While Desjardin doesn't expect buys to reach the 764,000 record mark reached by Wrestlemania VII, he said they could surpass the 416,000 buys generated by last year's version (Wrestlemania 1994)." - "Titan custom-'Tayloring' latest wrestlemania." Multichannel News March 6, 1995
4504
4505 
4506
4507In your House: 1: "Skip Desjardin, vice president of PPV for TitanSports, which owns the WWF franchise, said buy-rates for In Your House managed to reach the 1 percent mark, generating approximately 200,000 to 225,000 buys." - May 29, 1995 ( WWF's 'House' surprises,) $14.95 price point, Multichannel News
4508
4509 
4510
4511IYH events prior to May 1996: Beware of Dog: "In Your House events -- which Titan introduced last year -- have averaged between 180,000 and 200,000 buys since the beginning of the year." - June 3 1996 (Multichannel News) - article is about Titan having to offer a different replay to make up for the feed getting screwed up and many providers expecting to refund the $19.95 to complaining customers
4512
4513 
4514
4515Wrestlemania 1998: "The WWF's March 28 "Wrestlemania XV" drew a wrestling-best 875,000 buys at $34.95 each -- which means the company earned more than $30 million in revenue from two hours of television." - Variety, June 19 1999 (Wrestling with Success)
4516
4517 
4518
4519Survivor Series 1992: "TitanSports' Nov. 25 Survivor Series World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event could not stem the tide of declining buy-rates, which have fallen 30 percent below last year's figures. The event generated close to a 2 percent buy-rate, pinning down approximately 365,000 buys, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. He added that the event's performance was close to that of Titan's August SummerSlam PPV event and generally matched the company's 30 percent slide in buy-rates for all of its 1992 events." - Multichannel News, 12/21/92
4520
4521 
4522
4523Royal Rumble 1992: "Rumble's price went up from $22.95 to $24.95. The WWF said, however, that preliminary results show the event actually outgrossed last year's, partly on the strength of a price hike. Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for the WWF, admitted that Rumble's buy-rate was down from last year, but said the event increased the number of buys over last year, although it was too early to give specific numbers." - Multichannel News, Feb 3 1992
4524
4525 
4526
4527This Tuesday in Texas 1992: "However, operators also reported that buy-rates for the WWF's Nov. 27 Survivor Series - the ending of which was the basis for the This Tuesday in Texas second event six days later - were down slightly from last year's event. Operators were not allowed to promote Texas until after the conclusion of Survivor, which saw champion Hulk Hogan lose his title to The Undertaker. The WWF provided a promotional spot for the special event - the main feature of which was a rematch of the Hogan-Undertaker bout in which Hogan regained his title - immediately after Survivor. But Desjardin said subscribers were satisfied that they got their money's worth out of the Survivor event. He added that the WWF has no intentions of attempting another surprise event in the near future. ... [one person added that viewers] might have resented paying about $40 for the two events in less than a week." - Multichannel News, Dec 9 1991 (events were
4528
452927.95 price for Survivor and $12.95 for the WWF special event)
4530
4531 
4532
4533No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie: "Viewer's Choice serves some 5.5 million addressable homes, over one-third of the addressable universe. Most of that 5.5 million total comes from the MSO's who own the service. The second-largest PPV service, Request, does not carry WWF events. Traditionally, WWF events have been one of PPV's leading revenue sources, but the overall revenue for the January event could be curtailed if major blocks of the industry do not carry it. DeVito said 6.2 million homes are currently under contract for the Jan. 21 event, and WWF expects to have 8 million by then. That is short of the 12 million to which the Dec. 27 event was available. Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990
4534
4535 
4536
4537Wrestlemania 4: "The third in the World Wrestling Federation's series may have been the charm, because last March's Wrestlemania IV showed NYT Cable PPV director Steve Rockabrand that "the product has reached the end of its competitive life cycle." The Cherry Hill, NJ system, which does sales of $6.50 per month per sub on its 62,000 PPV universe, reports its buy rate for the latest event fell four percentage points short of the 10.9% scored by Wrestlemania III. By WWF Count, Wrestlemania IV was available to 11.1 million PPV homes, with the previous record going to the WWF Survivor Series of last November. The federation estimates the buy rate on more than 700 systems which carried the event at 9.8%. For NYT's part, Rockabrand feels that newer PPV systems whose subscribers may not have had the exposure to the previous series may have done better than NYT's 6.9% at $19.95 a transaction. The current holder of the PPV crown at NYT is not Randy Savage, winner of the Wrestlemania contest, but rather Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray of Dirty Dnacing with 27.3% buy-rate. As for those who he expects to depose the reigning champs, Rockabrand hopes it will be Tyson-Spinks, although his system has yet to sign the deal." - Television/Radio Age, April 18, 1988
4538
4539 
4540
4541"The WWF reports that its revenue from pay-per-view events has been flat over the past five years, averaging about $25 million a year. The WCW's pay-per-view numbers have doubled since Hulk Hogan walked through the door last summer, but it's not clear that this kind of growth can continue. The WCW generated about $13 million from pay-per-view last year." - Viva Hulk! By: Kimelman, John, FW, 00152064, 2/14/95, Vol. 164, Issue 4 (Article opens with a BURIAL of Kevin Nash)
4542
4543 
4544
4545Wrestlemania IX: "Cable operators were not too disappointed with the performance of TitanSports Inc.'s April 4 Wrestlemania IX pay-per-view event despite the decline in its buy-rates from last year. Although the company did not have specific buy-rates for the event, Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for TitanSports, said the event's results will most likely be better than those of last January's Royal Rumble, which performed better than last November's Survivor Series." - April 12 1993, Multichannel News
4546
4547 
4548
45491990 PPV Business: "Karpas added that despite the popularity of boxing and wrestling events on PPV, the buy-rates average only around 7 percent." - Feb 4 1991, Multichannel News
4550
4551 
4552
4553"McMahon's WWF is still bigger, grossing an estimated $84 million. Turner's executive producer Eric Bischoff, says, "My goal is to break $50 million." - Fortune, 10/16/95 (about Time Warner buying Turner Broadcasting and focuses that WCW may be a key asset) "Clinching the Deal: Hulk to Time Warner!"
4554
4555 
4556
4557March 2000: "WCW PPV events this year have averaged a 0.28 buy-rate, down about 50 percent from an 0.55 buy-rate in 1999. The 1999 buy-rate also fell about 50 percent from the 1.03 WCW pulled in 1998, according to the company." March 27, 2000 Multichannel News (WCW OVERHAULS PPV UNIT MANAGEMENT)
4558
4559 
4560
4561October 2000: "The disparity is even greater on the PPV side. The WWF averages around a 1.35 buy-rate on monthly events, while the WCW's buy-rates have been as low as 0.2 percent." - 10/9/2000 Multichannel News (WCW May Work with Rival.)
4562
4563 
4564
4565ECW Events as of 1999: "ECW currently averages around 70,000 to 75,000 buys per event, which pales in comparison with average six-figure buy numbers for the monthly PPV events staged by WCW and the WWF." - Acclaim's ECW deal includes equity piece., Multichannel News; 11/29/99, Vol. 20 Issue 49, p34, 2/7p
4566
4567 
4568
4569Backlash 2000 - "Operators reported that the WWF generated between 625,000 and 725,000 buys and more than $19 million in revenue for Backlash, which featured the return of popular wrestler Austin." - WWF Knocks Out Fight on PPV., Multichannel News; 05/08/2000, Vol. 21 Issue 19, p5, 2p, 1 Color Photograph
4570
4571 
4572
4573ECW Barely Legal: "A pay-per-view event, "Barely Legal," garnered 45,000 buys, and Extreme Championship Wrestling muscled its way into the big time. More PPV shows and 150 annual live arena events generated buzz on the Internet among wrestling fans." - from a "The Marketing 100" in Advertising Age, 6/26/2000, Vol. 71 Issue 27, ps33, 1/5p
4574
4575 
4576
45772001 PPV results: "Showtime recently released a survey called “The Pay-Per-View Industry Review & Digital Cable PPV Study 2001.” Key findings include: Fifty million, or nearly half of all U.S. TV homes, have access to PPV—two-thirds of those via satellite or digital cable.
4578
4579WWF events on the Top 10 PPV events list
4580
4581#1 Wrestlemania X-Seven April 1 $27,965,000
4582
4583#4 No Way Out Feb. 25 $16,173,000,
4584
4585#6 Royal Rumble, Jan. 21, $15,574,000
4586
4587#7 Summerslam, Aug. 19, $14,226,250
4588
4589#7 Unforgiven, Sept. 23, $14,226,250
4590
4591#9 Survivor Series , Nov. 18 $13,178,000" - "Wrestling and boxing bring 'em to the mat. By: Phipps, Jennie L., Electronic Media, 07450311, 3/4/2002, Vol. 21, Issue 9"
4592
4593 
4594
4595Royal Rumble 1997 & 1998: "In its pay-per-view ventures, the WWF's "Royal Rumble" event in January scored 318,000 buy-ins, 114,000 more than last year, for a 56 percent increase."
4596
4597IYH 1996/1997: "The "In Your House" PPV event in December scored 151,000 buy-ins, up 22 percent over the previous year, despite a price increase from $19.95 to $29.95 over that same period."
4598
4599- WWF pins down larger audience. By: Spring, Greg, Electronic Media, 07450311, 02/09/98, Vol. 17, Issue 7
4600
4601 
4602
4603SummerSlam 1992/1991: "Although Titan did not have specific buy-rates for the event, Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for the WWF, said preliminary numbers show a decline in performance from last year's (1991) 3.1 percent buy-rate." - Wrestling taken to the mat again. (declining buy-rates for pay-per-view wrestling events), Multichannel News 14.n5 (Feb 1, 1993): pp15(1).
4604
4605 
4606
4607WWF: "WWF has lined up 11.5 million addressable homes for its upcoming Summer Slam '88" Sugar Ray's PPV pot of gold. (Sugar Ray Leonard)., Broadcasting 115.n7 (August 15, 1988): pp41(1).
4608
4609 
4610
4611Superbrawl 1994: "Meanwhile, the WCW averaged slightly less than a 1 percent buy-rate for its Feb. 20 SuperBrawl IV PPV event, operators said. Most operators said the event did about as well as, and in some cases better than, last year's event." - Turner Entertainment close to signing Hulk Hogan for WCW. (Turner Entertainment Co.; World Championship Wrestling). Multichannel News 15.n9 (Feb 28, 1994): pp14(1).
4612
4613 
4614
4615"able system addressability (the ability to deliver PPV programing) is expected to climb to 23 million homes by the end of 1995, a 3% boost over year-end 1994, according to Showtime Event Television; The wrestling category raked in an estimated $70 million in PPV revenue in 1994, and promoters are looking to push that number even higher this year." - PPV outlook: partly sunny. (pay-per-view television). Broadcasting & Cable 125.n14 (April 3, 1995): pp30(1). (Article also notes that Playboy TV gets 900k orders a month)
4616
4617Bix
4618Bix
4619DVDVR 80s Project
46206273 posts
4621Report post 
4622Posted June 20, 2013
4623That TV/Radio Age blurb is a little weird. Why are they comparing a $4 movie with a $25 live event?
4624
4625mookeighana
4626mookieghana
4627mookeighana
4628Members
4629492 posts
4630Location:Saint Paul, MN
4631Report post 
4632Posted June 20, 2013
4633  Bix said:
4634That TV/Radio Age blurb is a little weird. Why are they comparing a $4 movie with a $25 live event?
4635
4636Yeah, it's a weird comparison. (When I did Grocery Store consulting, I would always remind people if that if they really just want to sell more units then price them at a penny. However, lots of volume doesn't equal profit.)
4637
4638I might be because there was a lot of difference between people that _could_ order a PPV and number of the people that actually will (see the chart a few posts ago about the difference between available and using).
4639
4640 
4641
4642But anyone, people should read the issue that I linked of the magazine - if nothing else for the awesome ALF and DoubleDare ads.
4643
4644 
4645
4646Here's a list of articles that seem interesting but I haven't found a way to get full-text yet:
4647
4648 
4649
4650"We want to be like Disney." (TitanSports Inc.) (company profile).company profile). Forbes 17 Oct. 1988
4651
4652 
4653
4654"Deregulation takes to the mat. (New Jersey legislation seeks to clarify whether pro wrestling is sport or entertainment, therefore exempt from state control)." Insight on the News 6.n14 (April 2, 1990): pp54(1).
4655
4656 
4657
4658'They never saw anybody as mean as me.' (Freddy Blassie of the World Wrestling Federation). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp82(2).
4659
4660 
4661
4662P-P-V boost the bottom line. (pay-per-view television increases profits for the World Wrestling Federation). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp80(1).
4663
4664 
4665
4666Promotional machine powered by the tube. (television programming has helped promote the World Wrestling Federation). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp78(1).
4667
4668 
4669
4670Biz booms abroad. (World Wrestling Federation experiences success in foreign markets). Variety 344.n4 (August 5, 1991): pp76(2).
4671
4672 
4673
4674Suddenly pay-per-view is hot, riding in on high-tech. (special section). Variety 333.n7 (Dec 7, 1988): pp50(2)
4675
4676 
4677
4678Wrestlemania proves P-P-V titan. (Sports Channels) (column). Variety 330.n11 (April 6, 1988): pp34(1).
4679
4680 
4681
4682Record indoor gate for Wrestlemania 3. (Pontiac, Michigan). Variety 326.(April 1, 1987): pp1(2).
4683
4684 
4685
4686TV pins live arena wrestling: overexposure threatens sport's future growth. Variety 323.(July 16, 1986): pp1(2).
4687
4688 
4689
4690In the Ring with Ted Turner Forbes. 11/28/1988, Vol. 142 Issue 11, p12-12. 1/4p. (The article reports on the acquisition of most of the assets of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) by Turner Broadcasting System Inc. The assets were paid for about $5 million in early November 1988. It is said that Ted Turner's first order of business will be to shore up the NWA for which has already become an important program supplier for Turner.)[/i]
4691
4692 
4693
4694If you find any of these, please send me a link!
4695
4696Bix
4697Bix
4698DVDVR 80s Project
46996273 posts
4700Report post 
4701Posted June 20, 2013
4702That searchable archive of TV/Radio Age issues is tremendous and I will waste way too much time on it.
4703
4704 
4705
4706I should see if my library has added any good databases...
4707
4708s1rweeze
4709s1rweeze
4710Members
471181 posts
4712Report post 
4713Posted June 20, 2013
4714Holy cow, this is great stuff, tons of info
4715
4716 
4717
4718Kudos to mookeighana
4719
4720mookeighana
4721mookieghana
4722mookeighana
4723Members
4724492 posts
4725Location:Saint Paul, MN
4726Report post 
4727Posted June 21, 2013
4728Also, if anyone is curious in reviewing the 200+ articles from 1985-2013 that I have come across from Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, Variety and many other journals, drop me a PM and I can share a zipfile. Most aren't available on the web, so they represent good new information and there's certainly a lot of operator comments in the PPV articles from the 1990s that are intriguing.
4729
4730mookeighana
4731mookieghana
4732mookeighana
4733Members
4734492 posts
4735Location:Saint Paul, MN
4736Report post 
4737Posted June 26, 2013
4738I've been working my way through the thread and cross-referencing all of the information. First of all, great job by everyone. As I said before, I've long been working on looking at these things. From 2000-onwards, there is a wealth of SEC materials (especially the periodic financial 10-Q) filings which have a lot of juicy nuggets about PPV buys. The hard part was always 1985-1999, which is being filled in quite nicely here.
4739
4740 
4741
4742There's a really nice spreadsheet at http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/eventinfo.xls that lists all of the PPVs and has a "PPV buyrate" next to many of the events. It's certainly as fallible as every single other list out there. However, since it fills in a lot of gaps, I thought I would try an experiment where I would take the buyrates from the spreadsheet and push them up against the "# of PPV capable homes" from the Broadcasting Appendix table that I found. (I did use an even slope for every year so the universe "expands" as the year goes by. In reality, I'm sure these expansions were hardly linear, but since the overall universe expansion was roughly linear, I decided to just go with it.)
4743
4744 
4745
4746WWF (comparisons to other numbers already listed in this thread)
4747
4748 
4749
4750WWF WrestleMania I (3/31/1985): 1.1 buyrate x 2119195 homes = 23,311 buys. (JNLister: 398,000 (CCT) and a negligibly small number of PPV buys)
4751
4752WWF Wrestling Classic (11/7/1985): 2.5 buyrate x 4710599 homes = 117,764 buys. (this seems high - estimates previously were 43k to 60k buys)
4753
4754 
4755
4756WWF WrestleMania II (4/7/1986): 7 buyrate x 5654650 homes = 395,825 buys. (250,000 in NS list, JNLister: 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.)
4757
4758 
4759
4760WWF WrestleMania III (3/29/1987): 8 buyrate x 6472033 homes = 517,762 buys. ( 400,000 (PPV); 450,000 (CCT); 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV)
4761
4762WWF Survivor Series 1987 (11/26/1987): 7 buyrate x 7297766 homes = 510,843 buys. (this seems high: 325,000 in NS list)
4763
4764 
4765
4766WWF WrestleMania IV (3/27/1988): 6.5 buyrate x 7786150 homes = 506,099 buys. ( 485,000; JNLister: 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV)
4767
4768WWF SummerSlam 1988 (8/29/1988): 4.5 buyrate x 8491025 homes = 382,096 buys. (this seems low; estimate was 500,000 in NS list and 400,000 in Observer notes)
4769
4770WWF Survivor Series 1988 (11/24/1988): 2.8 buyrate x 8913950 homes = 249,590 buys. (this is close - 310,000 buys)
4771
4772 
4773
4774WWF Royal Rumble 1989 (1/15/1989): 1.5 buyrate x 9195900 homes = 137,938 buys. (this is close = 165,000 buys)
4775
4776WWF WrestleMania V (4/2/1989): 5.9 buyrate x 10313650 homes = 608,505 buys. (this is low,767,000 buys is the common number)
4777
4778WWF SummerSlam 1989 (8/28/1989): 4.8 buyrate x 11803983 homes = 566,591 buys. (numbers between 575,000 and 625,000 have been published)
4779
4780WWF Survivor Series 1989 (11/23/1989): 3.3 buyrate x 12921733 homes = 426,417 buys. (this is a little higher than the 385,000 number)
4781
4782WWF No Holds Barred (12/27/1989): 1.6 buyrate x 13294316 homes = 212,709 buys. ("Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990)
4783
4784 
4785
4786WWF Royal Rumble 1990 (1/21/1990): 2 buyrate x 13666900 homes = 273,338 buys. (this is close to 260,000)
4787
4788WWF WrestleMania VI (4/1/1990): 4.5 buyrate x 14365500 homes = 646,447 buys. (this is higher than then 550,000 to 560,000 number)
4789
4790WWF SummerSlam 1990 (8/27/1990): 3.8 buyrate x 15296966 homes = 581,284 buys. (this is close to the 550,000 number though the article from 7/8/91 had the buyrate higher up at 4.3)
4791
4792WWF Survivor Series 1990 (11/22/1990): 3 buyrate x 15995566 homes = 479,866 buys. (this is above the 400,000 number)
4793
4794 
4795
4796WWF Royal Rumble 1991 (1/19/1991): 2.4 buyrate x 16461300 homes = 395,071 buys. (this is below the 440,000 number)
4797
4798WWF WrestleMania VII (3/24/1991): 2.8 buyrate x 17064910 homes = 477,817 buys. (this is higher than the 400,000 number)
4799
4800WWF SummerSlam 1991 (8/26/1991): 2.7 buyrate x 18573935 homes = 501,496 buys. (this is VASTLY above the 375,000 to 405,000 numbers) - however the 9/2/91 article calls it "608,000 buys"
4801
4802WWF Survivor Series 1991 (11/27/1991): 2.2 buyrate x 19479350 homes = 428,545 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)
4803
4804WWF Tuesday in Texas (12/3/1991): 1 buyrate x 19781155 homes = 197,811 buys. (this is slightly above the 140,000 number)
4805
4806 
4807
4808WWF Royal Rumble 1992 (1/19/1992): 1.8 buyrate x 20082960 homes = 361,493 buys. (this is above the 260,000 number)
4809
4810WWF WrestleMania VIII (4/5/1992): 2.3 buyrate x 21069480 homes = 484,598 buys. (this is above the 360,000 to 390,000 numbers)
4811
4812WWF SummerSlam 1992 (8/29/1992): 1.5 buyrate x 22384840 homes = 335,772 buys. (this is above the 285,000 number)
4813
4814WWF Survivor Series 1992 (11/25/1992): 1.4 buyrate x 23371360 homes = 327,199 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)
4815
4816 
4817
4818WWF Royal Rumble 1993 (1/24/1993): 1.25 buyrate x 24029040 homes = 300,363 buys. (this is below the 430,000 number or was that for WM?)
4819
4820WWF WrestleMania IX (4/4/1993): 2 buyrate x 25081860 homes = 501,637 buys. (this is above the 430,000 number)
4821
4822WWF King of the Ring 1993 (6/13/1993): 1.1 buyrate x 25783740 homes = 283,621 buys. (this is close to the 245,000 number)
4823
4824WWF SummerSlam 1993 (8/30/1993): 1.3 buyrate x 26485620 homes = 344,313 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)
4825
4826WWF Survivor Series 1993 (11/24/1993): 0.82 buyrate x 27538440 homes = 225,815 buys. (this is near the 180,000 number)
4827
4828 
4829
4830WWF Royal Rumble 1994 (1/22/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 28240320 homes = 254,162 buys. (this is above the 200,000 number)
4831
4832WWF WrestleMania X (3/20/1994): 1.68 buyrate x 28776500 homes = 483,445 buys. (this is near the 420,000 number)
4833
4834WWF King of the Ring 1994 (6/19/1994): 0.85 buyrate x 29580770 homes = 251,436 buys. (this is above the 185,000 number)
4835
4836WWF SummerSlam 1994 (8/29/1994): 1.3 buyrate x 30116950 homes = 391,520 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)
4837
4838WWF Survivor Series 1994 (11/23/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 30921220 homes = 278,290 buys. (no estimate in NS list)
4839
4840 
4841
4842WWF Royal Rumble 1995 (1/22/1995): 1 buyrate x 31457400 homes = 314,574 buys. (this is above the 225,000 number)
4843
4844WWF WrestleMania XI (4/2/1995): 1.3 buyrate x 31462550 homes = 409,013 buys. (this is above the 340,000 number)
4845
4846WWF In Your House #1 (5/14/1995): 0.83 buyrate x 31464266 homes = 261,153 buys. (this is above the 180,000 number)
4847
4848WWF King of the Ring 1995 (6/25/1995): 0.65 buyrate x 31465983 homes = 204,528 buys. (this is above the 150,000 number)
4849
4850WWF In Your House #2 (7/23/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31467700 homes = 220,273 buys. (this is above the 155,000 number)
4851
4852WWF SummerSlam 1995 (8/27/1995): 0.9 buyrate x 31469416 homes = 283,224 buys. (this is above the 205,000 number)
4853
4854WWF In Your House #3 (9/24/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31471133 homes = 220,297 buys. (this is above the 160,000 number)
4855
4856WWF In Your House #4 (10/22/1995): 0.4 buyrate x 31472850 homes = 125,891 buys. (this is above the 90,000 number)
4857
4858WWF Survivor Series 1995 (11/19/1995): 0.57 buyrate x 31474566 homes = 179,405 buys. (no estimate)
4859
4860WWF In Your House #5 (12/17/1995): 0.35 buyrate x 31476283 homes = 110,166 buys. (no estimate)
4861
4862 
4863
4864WWF Royal Rumble 1996 (1/21/1996): 1.1 buyrate x 31478000 homes = 346,258 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number or was this for WM?)
4865
4866WWF In Your House #6 (2/18/1996): 0.75 buyrate x 31764263 homes = 238,231 buys.
4867
4868WWF WrestleMania XII (3/31/1996): 1.2 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 388,041 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number)
4869
4870WWF Good Friends, Better Enemies (4/28/1996): 0.65 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 210,189 buys.
4871
4872WWF Beware of Dog #1 (5/26/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys.
4873
4874WWF Beware of Dog #2 (5/28/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys. (this was the make-up airing)
4875
4876WWF King of the Ring 1996 (6/23/1996): 0.6 buyrate x 32909316 homes = 197,455 buys.
4877
4878WWF International Incident (7/21/1996): 0.37 buyrate x 33195580 homes = 122,823 buys.
4879
4880WWF SummerSlam 1996 (8/18/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 33481843 homes = 194,194 buys.
4881
4882WWF Mind Games (9/22/1996): 0.48 buyrate x 33768106 homes = 162,086 buys.
4883
4884WWF Buried Alive (10/20/1996): 0.4 buyrate x 34054370 homes = 136,217 buys.
4885
4886WWF Survivor Series 1996 (11/17/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 34340633 homes = 199,175 buys.
4887
4888WWF It's Time (12/15/1996): 0.35 buyrate x 34626896 homes = 121,194 buys.
4889
4890 
4891
4892WWF Royal Rumble 1997 (1/19/1997): 0.7 buyrate x 34913160 homes = 244,392 buys.
4893
4894WWF The Final Four (2/16/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35025475 homes = 175,127 buys.
4895
4896WWF WrestleMania XIII (3/23/1997): 0.77 buyrate x 35137791 homes = 270,560 buys. (this is above the 237,000 number)
4897
4898WWF Taker's Revenge (4/20/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35250107 homes = 176,250 buys.
4899
4900WWF A Cold Day in Hell (5/11/1997): 0.57 buyrate x 35362423 homes = 201,565 buys.
4901
4902WWF King of the Ring 1997 (6/8/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35474739 homes = 177,373 buys.
4903
4904WWF Canadian Stampede (7/6/1997): 0.59 buyrate x 35587055 homes = 209,963 buys.
4905
4906WWF SummerSlam 1997 (8/3/1997): 0.8 buyrate x 35699370 homes = 285,594 buys. (this was above the 250,000 number)
4907
4908WWF Ground Zero (9/7/1997): 0.45 buyrate x 35811686 homes = 161,152 buys.
4909
4910WWF Badd Blood 1997 (10/5/1997): 0.6 buyrate x 35924002 homes = 215,544 buys.
4911
4912WWF Survivor Series 1997 (11/9/1997): 0.89 buyrate x 36036318 homes = 320,723 buys.
4913
4914WWF D-Generation X (12/7/1997): 0.44 buyrate x 36148634 homes = 159,053 buys.
4915
4916 
4917
4918WWF Royal Rumble 1998 (1/18/1998): 0.97 buyrate x 36260950 homes = 351,731 buys.
4919
4920WWF No Way Out 1998 (2/15/1998): 0.52 buyrate x 36310541 homes = 188,814 buys.
4921
4922WWF WrestleMania XIV (3/29/1998): 2.3 buyrate x 36360133 homes = 836,283 buys. (this was above the 730,000 number)
4923
4924WWF Unforgiven 1998 (4/26/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36409725 homes = 309,482 buys.
4925
4926WWF Over the Edge 1998 (5/31/1998): 0.58 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 211,751 buys.
4927
4928WWF King of the Ring 1998 (6/28/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 310,325 buys.
4929
4930WWF Fully Loaded 1998 (7/26/1998): 0.9 buyrate x 36558500 homes = 329,026 buys.
4931
4932WWF SummerSlam 1998 (8/30/1998): 1.63 buyrate x 36608091 homes = 596,711 buys. (this was below that debated 700,000 number)
4933
4934WWF Breakdown (9/27/1998): 0.86 buyrate x 36657683 homes = 315,256 buys.
4935
4936WWF Judgment Day 1998 (10/18/1998): 0.89 buyrate x 36707275 homes = 326,694 buys.
4937
4938WWF Survivor Series 1998 (11/15/1998): 1.3 buyrate x 36756866 homes = 477,839 buys.
4939
4940WWF Rock Bottom (12/13/1998): 0.78 buyrate x 36806458 homes = 287,090 buys.
4941
4942 
4943
4944WWF Royal Rumble 1999 (1/24/1999): 1.88 buyrate x 36856050 homes = 692,893 buys. (this was above the 650,000 buys)
4945
4946WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre (2/14/1999): 1.21 buyrate x 37097382 homes = 448,878 buys.
4947
4948WWF WrestleMania XV (3/28/1999): 2.32 buyrate x 37338715 homes = 866,258 buys. (this was above the 800,000 number)
4949
4950WWF Backlash 1999 (4/25/1999): 1.06 buyrate x 37580047 homes = 398,348 buys.
4951
4952WWF Over the Edge 1999 (5/23/1999): 1.1 buyrate x 37821380 homes = 416,035 buys.
4953
4954WWF King of the Ring 1999 (6/27/1999): 1.13 buyrate x 38062712 homes = 430,108 buys.
4955
4956WWF Fully Loaded 1999 (7/25/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 38304045 homes = 360,058 buys.
4957
4958WWF SummerSlam 1999 (8/22/1999): 1.61 buyrate x 38545377 homes = 620,580 buys. (this was slightly below the 650,000 number)
4959
4960WWF Unforgiven 1999 (9/26/1999): 0.85 buyrate x 38786710 homes = 329,687 buys.
4961
4962WWF No Mercy 1999 (10/17/1999): 0.84 buyrate x 39028042 homes = 327,835 buys.
4963
4964WWF Survivor Series 1999 (11/14/1999): 1.14 buyrate x 39269375 homes = 447,670 buys.
4965
4966WWF Armageddon 1999 (12/12/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 39510707 homes = 371,400 buys.
4967
4968 
4969
4970On average, I'm low for 1988/1989, about 20% high for 1990-1992, okay for 1993, about 25% high for 1994-1997 and near for 1998-1999. I didn't correlate all of my article blurbs with this list yet - I used the buyrate estimates that came from the ProWrestlingHistory spreadsheet.
4971
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5003 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
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5005Guest The Jiz
5006A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
5007By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
5008 PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT  Page 6 of 7  
5009mookeighana
5010mookieghana
5011mookeighana
5012Members
5013492 posts
5014Location:Saint Paul, MN
5015Report post 
5016Posted June 26, 2013
5017Estimates for the other feds:
5018
5019 
5020
5021WCW Starrcade 1987 (11/26/1987): 3.3 buyrate x 7297766 homes = 240,826 buys. (As Bix points out, this is INSANELY high considered that only 4 major systems carried the PPV, should be more like 20,000 buys according to WON)
5022
5023 
5024
5025WCW Bunkhouse Stampede (1/24/1988): 3.5 buyrate x 7504200 homes = 262,647 buys.
5026
5027WCW Great American Bash 1988 (7/10/1988): 2.2 buyrate x 8350050 homes = 183,701 buys.
5028
5029AWA SuperClash III (12/13/1988): 0.5 buyrate x 9054925 homes = 45,274 buys.
5030
5031WCW Starrcade 1988 (12/26/1988): 1.8 buyrate x 9054925 homes = 162,988 buys. ( comment on NS list was "Approximately 125,000 buys with estimations ranging from 100,000 to 150,000")
5032
5033 
5034
5035WCW Chi-Town Rumble (2/20/1989): 1.5 buyrate x 9568483 homes = 143,527 buys.
5036
5037WCW WrestleWar 1989 (5/7/1989): 1.3 buyrate x 10686233 homes = 138,921 buys.
5038
5039WCW Great American Bash 1989 (7/23/1989): 1.5 buyrate x 11431400 homes = 171,471 buys.
5040
5041WCW Halloween Havoc 1989 (10/28/1989): 1.77 buyrate x 12549150 homes = 222,119 buys.
5042
5043WCW Starrcade 1989 (12/13/1989): 1.3 buyrate x 13294316 homes = 172,826 buys. ("THE's Starcade series has also seen buy-rates fall from a 2 in 1989 to a 1.1 for last year's show, according to industry sources." - Multichannel News 12.n27 (July 8, 1991) "WWF, Turner wrestle with PPV problems")
5044
5045 
5046
5047WCW WrestleWar 1990 (2/25/1990): 1.6 buyrate x 13899766 homes = 222,396 buys.
5048
5049WCW Capital Combat (5/19/1990): 1.4 buyrate x 14598366 homes = 204,377 buys.
5050
5051WCW Great American Bash 1990 (7/7/1990): 1.7 buyrate x 15064100 homes = 256,089 buys.
5052
5053WCW Halloween Havoc 1990 (10/27/1990): 1.3 buyrate x 15762700 homes = 204,915 buys.
5054
5055WCW Starrcade 1990 (12/16/1990): 1.3 buyrate x 16228433 homes = 210,969 buys. ( ("THE's Starcade series has also seen buy-rates fall from a 2 in 1989 to a 1.1 for last year's show, according to industry sources." - Multichannel News 12.n27 (July 8, 1991) "WWF, Turner wrestle with PPV problems")
5056
5057 
5058
5059"In fact, PPV wrestling accounted for approximately $72 million of the nearly $150 million generated by PPV events in 1990, said Sharon Sidello, vice president of PPV TV for Turner Home Entertainment." - Multichannel News 12.n27 (July 8, 1991) "WWF, Turner wrestle with PPV problems"
5060
5061 
5062
5063WCW WrestleWar 1991 (2/24/1991): 1.2 buyrate x 16763105 homes = 201,157 buys.
5064
5065WCW Superbrawl I (5/19/1991): 1.04 buyrate x 17668520 homes = 183,752 buys.
5066
5067UWF Beach Brawl (6/9/1991): 0.1 buyrate x 17970325 homes = 17,970 buys.
5068
5069WCW Great American Bash 1991 (7/14/1991): 1 buyrate x 18272130 homes = 182,721 buys.
5070
5071WCW Halloween Havoc 1991 (10/27/1991): 0.8 buyrate x 19177545 homes = 153,420 buys. (Halloween Havoc 1991: "..generated close to a 1 percent buy-rate" - "'Loyal' wrestling fans help Turner PPV event." Multichannel News 11/4/1992 )
5072
5073WCW Starrcade 1991 (12/29/1991): 1 buyrate x 19781155 homes = 197,811 buys. (Starrcade 1991: "Nationally, the event garnered a 1 percent buy-rate, according to industry sources." "Turner to try credit cards again." Multichannel News (April 20, 1992))
5074
5075 
5076
5077WCW Superbrawl II (2/29/1992): 0.96 buyrate x 20740640 homes = 199,110 buys.
5078
5079WCW WrestleWar 1992 (5/17/1992): 0.61 buyrate x 21398320 homes = 13,0529 buys.
5080
5081WCW Beach Blast 1992 (6/20/1992): 0.4 buyrate x 21727160 homes = 86,908 buys.
5082
5083WCW Great American Bash 1992 (7/12/1992): 0.4 buyrate x 22056000 homes = 88,224 buys.
5084
5085WCW Halloween Havoc 1992 (10/25/1992): 0.9 buyrate x 23042520 homes = 207,382 buys.
5086
5087WCW Starrcade 1992 (12/28/1992): 0.5 buyrate x 23700200 homes = 118,501 buys.
5088
5089 
5090
5091WCW Superbrawl III (2/21/1993): 0.5 buyrate x 24379980 homes = 121,899 buys.
5092
5093WCW Slamboree 1993 (5/23/1993): 0.5 buyrate x 25432800 homes = 127,164 buys.
5094
5095WCW Beach Blast 1993 (7/18/1993): 0.5 buyrate x 26134680 homes = 130,673 buys.
5096
5097WCW Fall Brawl 1993 (9/19/1993): 0.46 buyrate x 26836560 homes = 123,448 buys.
5098
5099WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 (10/24/1993): 0.5 buyrate x 27187500 homes = 135,937 buys.
5100
5101WCW BattleBowl (11/20/1993): 0.27 buyrate x 27538440 homes = 74,353 buys.
5102
5103WCW Starrcade 1993 (12/27/1993): 0.55 buyrate x 27889380 homes = 153,391 buys.
5104
5105 
5106
5107WCW Superbrawl IV (2/20/1994): 0.5 buyrate x 28508410 homes = 142,542 buys. (
5108
5109WCW Spring Stampede 1994 (4/17/1994): 0.53 buyrate x 29044590 homes = 153,936 buys.
5110
5111WCW Slamboree 1994 (5/22/1994): 0.48 buyrate x 29312680 homes = 140,700 buys.
5112
5113WCW Bash at the Beach 1994 (7/17/1994): 1.02 buyrate x 29848860 homes = 304,458 buys.
5114
5115WCW Fall Brawl 1994 (9/18/1994): 0.53 buyrate x 30385040 homes = 161,040 buys.
5116
5117WCW Halloween Havoc 1994 (10/23/1994): 0.97 buyrate x 30653130 homes = 297,335 buys. (higher than the 220,000 buys on NS list, "operators estimate the event, which featured Hogan and Ric Flair in a steel cage match, generated around a 1 percent buy-rate." -Multichannel News 10/31/94 (Turner wrestling scores)
5118
5119AAA When Worlds Collised (11/6/1994): 0.24 buyrate x 30921220 homes = 74,210 buys. (spreadsheet had this at 44,000 buys)
5120
5121WCW Starrcade 1994 (12/27/1994): 0.6 buyrate x 31189310 homes = 187,135 buys.
5122
5123 
5124
5125"The WCW's pay-per-view numbers have doubled since Hulk Hogan walked through the door last summer, but it's not clear that this kind of growth can continue. The WCW generated about $13 million from pay-per-view last year." - Viva Hulk! By: Kimelman, John, FW, 00152064, 2/14/95, Vol. 164, Issue 4 (Article opens with a BURIAL of Kevin Nash)
5126
5127 
5128
5129 
5130
5131WCW Superbrawl V (2/19/1995): 0.95 buyrate x 31459116 homes = 298,861 buys.
5132
5133WCW Uncensored 1995 (3/19/1995): 0.96 buyrate x 31460833 homes = 302,023 buys.
5134
5135WCW Slamboree 1995 (5/21/1995): 0.57 buyrate x 31464266 homes = 179,346 buys.
5136
5137WCW Great American Bash 1995 (6/18/1995): 0.51 buyrate x 31465983 homes = 160,476 buys.
5138
5139WCW Bash at the Beach 1995 (7/16/1995): 0.82 buyrate x 31467700 homes = 258,035 buys.
5140
5141WCW Fall Brawl 1995 (9/17/1995): 0.48 buyrate x 31471133 homes = 151,061 buys.
5142
5143WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 (10/29/1995): 0.6 buyrate x 31472850 homes = 188,837 buys.
5144
5145WCW World War 3 1995 (11/26/1995): 0.43 buyrate x 31474566 homes = 135,340 buys.
5146
5147WCW Starrcade 1995 (12/27/1995): 0.36 buyrate x 31476283 homes = 113,314 buys.
5148
5149 
5150
5151WCW Superbrawl VI (2/11/1996): 0.6 buyrate x 31764263 homes = 190,585 buys.
5152
5153WCW Uncensored 1996 (3/24/1996): 0.7 buyrate x 32050526 homes = 224,353 buys.
5154
5155WCW Slamboree 1996 (5/19/1996): 0.44 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 143,541 buys.
5156
5157WCW Great American Bash 1996 (6/16/1996): 0.48 buyrate x 32909316 homes = 157,964 buys.
5158
5159WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 (7/7/1996): 0.71 buyrate x 33195580 homes = 235,688 buys.
5160
5161WCW Hog Wild 1996 (8/10/1996): 0.62 buyrate x 33481843 homes = 207,587 buys.
5162
5163WCW Fall Brawl 1996 (9/15/1996): 0.65 buyrate x 33768106 homes = 219,492 buys.
5164
5165WCW Halloween Havoc 1996 (10/27/1996): 0.7 buyrate x 34054370 homes = 238,380 buys.
5166
5167WCW World War 3 1996 (11/24/1996): 0.55 buyrate x 34340633 homes = 188,873 buys.
5168
5169WCW Starrcade 1996 (12/29/1996): 0.95 buyrate x 34626896 homes = 328,955 buys.
5170
5171 
5172
5173"The company is averaging between a 0.8 percent and a 0.9 percent, slightly above last year's figures." - regarding 1996 WCW PPV business, Multichannel News, Dec 2 1996
5174
5175 
5176
5177 
5178
5179WCW Souled Out 1997 (1/25/1997): 0.47 buyrate x 34913160 homes = 164,091 buys.
5180
5181WCW Superbrawl VII (2/23/1997): 0.75 buyrate x 35025475 homes = 262,691 buys.
5182
5183WCW Uncensored 1997 (3/16/1997): 0.89 buyrate x 35137791 homes = 312,726 buys.
5184
5185WCW Spring Stampede 1997 (4/6/1997): 0.58 buyrate x 35250107 homes = 204,450 buys.
5186
5187ECW Barely Legal (4/13/1997): 0.2 buyrate x 35250107 homes = 70,500 buys. (this seems high; "ECW Barely Legal: "A pay-per-view event, "Barely Legal," garnered 45,000 buys, and Extreme Championship Wrestling muscled its way into the big time. More PPV shows and 150 annual live arena events generated buzz on the Internet among wrestling fans." - from a "The Marketing 100" in Advertising Age, 6/26/2000, Vol. 71 Issue 27, ps33, 1/5p)
5188
5189WCW Slamboree 1997 (5/18/1997): 0.6 buyrate x 35362423 homes = 212,174 buys.
5190
5191WCW Great American Bash 1997 (6/15/1997): 0.6 buyrate x 35474739 homes = 212,848 buys.
5192
5193WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 (7/13/1997): 0.89 buyrate x 35587055 homes = 316,724 buys. (Jay Hassman in 7/20/98 Multichannel News claimed this was 500,000 buys)
5194
5195WCW Road Wild 1997 (8/8/1997): 0.65 buyrate x 35699370 homes = 232,045 buys.
5196
5197ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997 (8/17/1997): 0.21 buyrate x 35699370 homes = 74,968 buys.
5198
5199WCW Fall Brawl 1997 (9/14/1997): 0.53 buyrate x 35811686 homes = 18,9801 buys.
5200
5201WCW Halloween Havoc 1997 (10/26/1997): 1.1 buyrate x 35924002 homes = 395,164 buys. (Multichannel News, Jan 12 1998 had this PPV at 500,000 buys)
5202
5203WCW World War 3 1997 (11/23/1997): 0.56 buyrate x 36036318 homes = 201,803 buys.
5204
5205ECW November to Remember 1997 (11/30/1997): 0.2 buyrate x 36148634 homes = 72,297 buys.
5206
5207WCW Starrcade 1997 (12/28/1997): 1.9 buyrate x 36148634 homes = 686,824 buys. (above the 650,000 estimate; Multichannel News 3/1/99 article had them at 625,000 buys)
5208
5209 
5210
5211WCW Souled Out 1998 (1/24/1998): 1.02 buyrate x 36260950 homes = 369,861 buys.
5212
5213WCW Superbrawl VIII (2/22/1998): 1.1 buyrate x 36310541 homes = 399,415 buys.
5214
5215ECW Living Dangerously 1998 (3/1/1998): 0.23 buyrate x 36360133 homes = 83,628 buys.
5216
5217WCW Uncensored 1998 (3/15/1998): 1.1 buyrate x 36360133 homes = 399,961 buys.
5218
5219WCW Spring Stampede 1998 (4/19/1998): 0.72 buyrate x 36409725 homes = 262,150 buys.
5220
5221ECW Wrestlepalooza 1998 (5/3/1998): 0.24 buyrate x 36459316 homes = 87,502 buys.
5222
5223WCW Slamboree 1998 (5/17/1998): 0.72 buyrate x 36459316 homes = 262,507 buys.
5224
5225WCW Great American Bash 1998 (6/14/1998): 0.75 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 273,816 buys.
5226
5227WCW Bash at the Beach 1998 (7/12/1998): 1.5 buyrate x 36558500 homes = 548,377 buys. (close to the 600,000 buys estimate)
5228
5229ECW Heat Wave 1998 (8/2/1998): 0.2 buyrate x 36608091 homes = 73,216 buys.
5230
5231WCW Road Wild 1998 (8/8/1998): 0.93 buyrate x 36608091 homes = 340,455 buys.
5232
5233WCW Fall Brawl 1998 (9/13/1998): 0.7 buyrate x 36657683 homes = 256,603 buys.
5234
5235WCW Halloween Havoc 1998 (10/25/1998): 0.78 buyrate x 36707275 homes = 286,316 buys.
5236
5237ECW November to Remember 1998 (11/1/1998): 0.23 buyrate x 36756866 homes = 84,540 buys.
5238
5239WCW World War 3 1998 (11/22/1998): 0.63 buyrate x 36756866 homes = 231,568 buys.
5240
5241WCW Starrcade 1998 (12/27/1998): 1.15 buyrate x 36806458 homes = 423,274 buys.
5242
5243 
5244
5245ECW Gulity as Charged 1999 (1/10/1999): 0.24 buyrate x 36856050 homes = 88,454 buys.
5246
5247WCW Souled Out 1999 (1/17/1999): 0.78 buyrate x 36856050 homes = 287,477 buys.
5248
5249WCW Superbrawl IX (2/21/1999): 1.15 buyrate x 37097382 homes = 426,619 buys.
5250
5251WCW Uncensored 1999 (3/14/1999): 0.77 buyrate x 37338715 homes = 287,508 buys.
5252
5253ECW Living Dangerously 1999 (3/21/1999): 0.22 buyrate x 37338715 homes = 82,145 buys.
5254
5255WCW Spring Stampede 1999 (4/11/1999): 0.6 buyrate x 37580047 homes = 225,480 buys.
5256
5257WCW Slamboree 1999 (5/9/1999): 0.45 buyrate x 37821380 homes = 170,196 buys.
5258
5259ECW Hardcore Heaven 1999 (5/16/1999): 0.2 buyrate x 37821380 homes = 75,642 buys.
5260
5261WCW Great American Bash 1999 (6/13/1999): 0.43 buyrate x 38062712 homes = 163,669 buys.
5262
5263WCW Bash at the Beach 1999 (7/11/1999): 0.4 buyrate x 38304045 homes = 153,216 buys.
5264
5265ECW Heat Wave 1999 (7/18/1999): 0.26 buyrate x 38304045 homes = 99,590 buys.
5266
5267WCW Road Wild 1999 (8/14/1999): 0.54 buyrate x 38545377 homes = 208,145 buys.
5268
5269WCW Fall Brawl 1999 (9/12/1999): 0.29 buyrate x 38786710 homes = 112,481 buys.
5270
5271ECW Anarchy Rulz 1999 (9/19/1999): 0.23 buyrate x 38786710 homes = 89,209 buys.
5272
5273WCW Halloween Havoc 1999 (10/24/1999): 0.52 buyrate x 39028042 homes = 202,945 buys.
5274
5275ECW November to Remember 1999 (11/7/1999): 0.21 buyrate x 39269375 homes = 82,465 buys.
5276
5277WCW Mayhem 1999 (11/21/1999): 0.45 buyrate x 39269375 homes = 176,712 buys.
5278
5279WCW Starrcade 1999 (12/19/1999): 0.32 buyrate x 39510707 homes = 126,434 buys.
5280
5281 
5282
5283March 2000: "WCW PPV events this year have averaged a 0.28 buy-rate, down about 50 percent from an 0.55 buy-rate in 1999. The 1999 buy-rate also fell about 50 percent from the 1.03 WCW pulled in 1998, according to the company." March 27, 2000 Multichannel News (WCW OVERHAULS PPV UNIT MANAGEMENT)
5284
5285 
5286
5287ECW Events as of 1999: "ECW currently averages around 70,000 to 75,000 buys per event, which pales in comparison with average six-figure buy numbers for the monthly PPV events staged by WCW and the WWF." - Acclaim's ECW deal includes equity piece., Multichannel News; 11/29/99, Vol. 20 Issue 49, p34, 2/7p
5288
5289Bix
5290Bix
5291DVDVR 80s Project
52926273 posts
5293Report post 
5294Posted June 26, 2013
5295Starrcade '87 has to be out of the markets where it was available. Real number was 5 figures IIRC?
5296
5297Charles (Loss)
5298Charles (Loss)
5299Admins
530044846 posts
5301Report post 
5302Posted June 26, 2013
5303The WON at the time said Starrcade did about 20,000 buys, which is still impressive.
5304
5305JerryvonKramer
5306JerryvonKramer
5307DVDVR 80s Project
530811412 posts
5309Report post 
5310Posted June 26, 2013
5311Halloween Havoc seems to have had a habit of drawing more buys than Starrcade.
5312
5313 
5314
5315All the NWA/WCW figures seem really high to me. Are these accurate?
5316
5317Charles (Loss)
5318Charles (Loss)
5319Admins
532044846 posts
5321Report post 
5322Posted June 26, 2013
5323I suspect they are. WWE would hardly be disappointed by a lot of those pre-Hogan numbers.
5324
5325mookeighana
5326mookieghana
5327mookeighana
5328Members
5329492 posts
5330Location:Saint Paul, MN
5331Report post 
5332Posted June 26, 2013
5333  JerryvonKramer said:
5334Halloween Havoc seems to have had a habit of drawing more buys than Starrcade.
5335
5336 
5337
5338All the NWA/WCW figures seem really high to me. Are these accurate?
5339
5340They certainly might. Some of those buyrate numbers could be just for the systems that were carrying WCW which might not have had the same coverage that WWF did at first - i.e. 1.0 buyrate BUT it was only for 85% as many systems as the WWF universe of PPV-capable homes.
5341
5342 
5343
5344I'd have to review the articles that I quoted previously to get a better idea but in general I would apply at least some adjustments.
5345
5346 
5347
5348Based on what I noticed for actuals versus my estimate for WWF: I was about 20% high for WWF 1990-1992 (so multiply my buys estimate by 83% to correct), okay for 1993, about 25% high for 1994-1997 (multiple my buys estimates by 80%) and near for 1998-1999.
5349
5350JerryvonKramer
5351JerryvonKramer
5352DVDVR 80s Project
535311412 posts
5354Report post 
5355Posted June 26, 2013
5356I thought the gap in the late 80s and early 90s would have been a lot bigger than that tbh.
5357
5358 
5359
5360For example, Superbrawl II apparently got 199,110 buys, Royal Rumble 92 got 361,493. I'd have expected a bigger gap just going on the perception of where the two companies are at that point.
5361
5362 
5363
5364WCW seemed regularly to be drawing 200,000 buys in a period when they are meant to be doing really badly, that's not too shabby. Obviously some of the Wrestlemania and Summerslam numbers are close to tripling that, but the gap is way smaller than I expected.
5365
5366mookeighana
5367mookieghana
5368mookeighana
5369Members
5370492 posts
5371Location:Saint Paul, MN
5372Report post 
5373Posted June 26, 2013
5374  JerryvonKramer said:
5375I thought the gap in the late 80s and early 90s would have been a lot bigger than that tbh.
5376
5377 
5378
5379For example, Superbrawl II apparently got 199,110 buys, Royal Rumble 92 got 361,493. I'd have expected a bigger gap just going on the perception of where the two companies are at that point.
5380
5381 
5382
5383WCW seemed regularly to be drawing 200,000 buys in a period when they are meant to be doing really badly, that's not too shabby. Obviously some of the Wrestlemania and Summerslam numbers are close to tripling that, but the gap is way smaller than I expected.
5384
5385Well, let's look at my inaccurate totals:
5386
5387 
5388
53891988: 609,336 / 1,137,785 (both had 3 PPVs counted)
5390
53911989: 848,864 / 1,952,160 (both had 5 PPVs counted)
5392
53931990: 1,098,746 / 1,980,935 (WCW had 5 PPVs vs 4 PPVs for WWF)
5394
53951991: 918,861 / 2,000,740 (both had 5 PPVs)
5396
53971992: 830,654 / 1,509,062 (WCW had 6 PPVs vs 4 WWF PPVs)
5398
53991993: 866,865 / 1,655,749 (WCW had 7 PPVs vs 5 WWF PPVs)
5400
54011994: 1,387,146 / 1,658,853 (WCW had 7 PPVs vs 5 WWF PPVs)
5402
54031995: 1,787,293 / 2,328,524 (WCW had 9 PPVs vs 10 WWF PPVs)
5404
54051996: 2,135,418 / 2,462,666 (WCW had 10 PPVs vs 12 WWF PPVs)
5406
54071997: 3,391,341 / 2,597,296 (both had 12 PPVs)
5408
54091998: 4,054,303 / 4,541,002 (both had 12 PPVs)
5410
54111999: 2,540,882 / 5,709,750 (both had 12 PPVs)
5412
5413 
5414
5415Up until Hogan arrived, WWF had twice as many buys each year often times via less PPVs. That seems to be consistent with some of the articles I found that mention WWF buyrates at approximately twice that of WCW. Then the competition started to heat up and the gap closed and in calendar year 1997, it looks like WCW might have even won (though I'd have to dig into that to be sure). Then, it collapsed in 1999.
5416
5417JerryvonKramer
5418JerryvonKramer
5419DVDVR 80s Project
542011412 posts
5421Report post 
5422Posted June 26, 2013
5423Yeah, I'm not debating the figures. I guess I always thought that WWF were killing WCW at a much bigger ratio, more like 5:1 than double.
5424
5425 
5426
5427I think this perception is partly down to the massive gap in gates where you have WWF shows doing 50,000 at the same time as WCW's most major shows are struggling to get 5,000.
5428
5429s1rweeze
5430s1rweeze
5431Members
543281 posts
5433Report post 
5434Posted June 26, 2013
5435  Quote
5436WWF WrestleMania VII (3/24/1991): 2.8 buyrate x 17064910 homes
5437
5438Ah, so THIS is what Gorilla was rambling about during WM7. What he meant was, it was the largest available pay-per-view audience to the date that could have potentially purchased that particular event. Yeesh, talk about seedy.
5439
5440mookeighana
5441mookieghana
5442mookeighana
5443Members
5444492 posts
5445Location:Saint Paul, MN
5446Report post 
5447Posted June 28, 2013
5448So, I was going through WWF 1985-2012 (haven't gotten around to adding in 2013 stuff) results and adding up the estimated # of buys for each event to coordinate with the wrestlers that were on the show (sans rumbles). I didn't do any manipulating to just attribute buys for main events or anything (so Ivan Putski does get to be part of the Wrestling Classic buys and we learn that Kelly Kelly can take credit for 5.46 MILLION buys). I threw CCTV buys in with PPV buys for this just because.
5449
5450 
5451
5452It's no surprise to tell you that the list is very skewed towards people who have been wrestling through the boom into the 2000s - hence Triple H, Undertaker, Kane all do great.
5453
5454 
5455
54561. Triple H: 134 PPVs ( 50,144,576 buys )
5457
54582. the Undertaker: 138 PPVs ( 48,644,127 buys )
5459
54603. Glen Jacobs: 122 PPVs ( 44,919,863 buys )
5461
54624. Edge: 105 PPVs ( 41,790,052 buys )
5463
54645. Chris Jericho: 99 PPVs ( 39,272,757 buys )
5465
54666. the Big Show: 102 PPVs ( 37,552,306 buys )
5467
54687. Shawn Michaels: 100 PPVs ( 34,018,741 buys )
5469
54708. John Cena: 101 PPVs ( 32,801,000 buys )
5471
54729. Randy Orton: 93 PPVs ( 30,408,000 buys )
5473
547410. Kurt Angle: 66 PPVs ( 29,350,070 buys )
5475
547611. Christian: 73 PPVs ( 28,640,432 buys )
5477
547812. The Rock: 60 PPVs ( 26,532,584 buys )
5479
548013. Rey Mysterio Jr: 78 PPVs ( 25,984,000 buys )
5481
548214. Matt Hardy: 68 PPVs ( 25,540,671 buys )
5483
548415. John Bradshaw Layfield: 61 PPVs ( 25,513,335 buys )
5485
5486 
5487
5488Still, my favorite metric was looking at average buys per PPV. If you just take the absolute, the Wrestlemania celebs win (Snooki, Mayweather, Akebono, Maria Menounos, etc.).
5489
5490However, if you add the 10+ PPV critiera, there is five people for averaged above 500k/buys per PPV event-- the world's greatest stable: Tazz, Andre the Giant, Sable, The Honkytonk Man and Perry Saturn.
5491
5492 
5493
5494(Now, if I did everyone's top 10 PPVs, the list would shift back to similar to the overall top ten - HHH, Kane, Taker, Orton, Cena, Edge, Jericho, HBK, JBL, Rey, Christian, Rock, Angle, Trish, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Punk, Booker T, Benoit, Foley, Batista, Dudleyz, Jeff Hardy, Flair, Eddie, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Austin, Hogan, Ron Simmons)
5495
5496Guest Nell Santucci
5497Guest Nell Santucci
5498Guests
5499Report post 
5500Posted June 30, 2013
5501  mookeighana said:
5502I've been working my way through the thread and cross-referencing all of the information. First of all, great job by everyone. As I said before, I've long been working on looking at these things. From 2000-onwards, there is a wealth of SEC materials (especially the periodic financial 10-Q) filings which have a lot of juicy nuggets about PPV buys. The hard part was always 1985-1999, which is being filled in quite nicely here.
5503
5504 
5505
5506There's a really nice spreadsheet at http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/eventinfo.xls that lists all of the PPVs and has a "PPV buyrate" next to many of the events. It's certainly as fallible as every single other list out there. However, since it fills in a lot of gaps, I thought I would try an experiment where I would take the buyrates from the spreadsheet and push them up against the "# of PPV capable homes" from the Broadcasting Appendix table that I found. (I did use an even slope for every year so the universe "expands" as the year goes by. In reality, I'm sure these expansions were hardly linear, but since the overall universe expansion was roughly linear, I decided to just go with it.)
5507
5508 
5509
5510WWF (comparisons to other numbers already listed in this thread)
5511
5512 
5513
5514WWF WrestleMania I (3/31/1985): 1.1 buyrate x 2119195 homes = 23,311 buys. (JNLister: 398,000 (CCT) and a negligibly small number of PPV buys)
5515
5516WWF Wrestling Classic (11/7/1985): 2.5 buyrate x 4710599 homes = 117,764 buys. (this seems high - estimates previously were 43k to 60k buys)
5517
5518 
5519
5520WWF WrestleMania II (4/7/1986): 7 buyrate x 5654650 homes = 395,825 buys. (250,000 in NS list, JNLister: 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.)
5521
5522 
5523
5524WWF WrestleMania III (3/29/1987): 8 buyrate x 6472033 homes = 517,762 buys. ( 400,000 (PPV); 450,000 (CCT); 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV)
5525
5526WWF Survivor Series 1987 (11/26/1987): 7 buyrate x 7297766 homes = 510,843 buys. (this seems high: 325,000 in NS list)
5527
5528 
5529
5530WWF WrestleMania IV (3/27/1988): 6.5 buyrate x 7786150 homes = 506,099 buys. ( 485,000; JNLister: 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV)
5531
5532WWF SummerSlam 1988 (8/29/1988): 4.5 buyrate x 8491025 homes = 382,096 buys. (this seems low; estimate was 500,000 in NS list and 400,000 in Observer notes)
5533
5534WWF Survivor Series 1988 (11/24/1988): 2.8 buyrate x 8913950 homes = 249,590 buys. (this is close - 310,000 buys)
5535
5536 
5537
5538WWF Royal Rumble 1989 (1/15/1989): 1.5 buyrate x 9195900 homes = 137,938 buys. (this is close = 165,000 buys)
5539
5540WWF WrestleMania V (4/2/1989): 5.9 buyrate x 10313650 homes = 608,505 buys. (this is low,767,000 buys is the common number)
5541
5542WWF SummerSlam 1989 (8/28/1989): 4.8 buyrate x 11803983 homes = 566,591 buys. (numbers between 575,000 and 625,000 have been published)
5543
5544WWF Survivor Series 1989 (11/23/1989): 3.3 buyrate x 12921733 homes = 426,417 buys. (this is a little higher than the 385,000 number)
5545
5546WWF No Holds Barred (12/27/1989): 1.6 buyrate x 13294316 homes = 212,709 buys. ("Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990)
5547
5548 
5549
5550WWF Royal Rumble 1990 (1/21/1990): 2 buyrate x 13666900 homes = 273,338 buys. (this is close to 260,000)
5551
5552WWF WrestleMania VI (4/1/1990): 4.5 buyrate x 14365500 homes = 646,447 buys. (this is higher than then 550,000 to 560,000 number)
5553
5554WWF SummerSlam 1990 (8/27/1990): 3.8 buyrate x 15296966 homes = 581,284 buys. (this is close to the 550,000 number though the article from 7/8/91 had the buyrate higher up at 4.3)
5555
5556WWF Survivor Series 1990 (11/22/1990): 3 buyrate x 15995566 homes = 479,866 buys. (this is above the 400,000 number)
5557
5558 
5559
5560WWF Royal Rumble 1991 (1/19/1991): 2.4 buyrate x 16461300 homes = 395,071 buys. (this is below the 440,000 number)
5561
5562WWF WrestleMania VII (3/24/1991): 2.8 buyrate x 17064910 homes = 477,817 buys. (this is higher than the 400,000 number)
5563
5564WWF SummerSlam 1991 (8/26/1991): 2.7 buyrate x 18573935 homes = 501,496 buys. (this is VASTLY above the 375,000 to 405,000 numbers) - however the 9/2/91 article calls it "608,000 buys"
5565
5566WWF Survivor Series 1991 (11/27/1991): 2.2 buyrate x 19479350 homes = 428,545 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)
5567
5568WWF Tuesday in Texas (12/3/1991): 1 buyrate x 19781155 homes = 197,811 buys. (this is slightly above the 140,000 number)
5569
5570 
5571
5572WWF Royal Rumble 1992 (1/19/1992): 1.8 buyrate x 20082960 homes = 361,493 buys. (this is above the 260,000 number)
5573
5574WWF WrestleMania VIII (4/5/1992): 2.3 buyrate x 21069480 homes = 484,598 buys. (this is above the 360,000 to 390,000 numbers)
5575
5576WWF SummerSlam 1992 (8/29/1992): 1.5 buyrate x 22384840 homes = 335,772 buys. (this is above the 285,000 number)
5577
5578WWF Survivor Series 1992 (11/25/1992): 1.4 buyrate x 23371360 homes = 327,199 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)
5579
5580 
5581
5582WWF Royal Rumble 1993 (1/24/1993): 1.25 buyrate x 24029040 homes = 300,363 buys. (this is below the 430,000 number or was that for WM?)
5583
5584WWF WrestleMania IX (4/4/1993): 2 buyrate x 25081860 homes = 501,637 buys. (this is above the 430,000 number)
5585
5586WWF King of the Ring 1993 (6/13/1993): 1.1 buyrate x 25783740 homes = 283,621 buys. (this is close to the 245,000 number)
5587
5588WWF SummerSlam 1993 (8/30/1993): 1.3 buyrate x 26485620 homes = 344,313 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)
5589
5590WWF Survivor Series 1993 (11/24/1993): 0.82 buyrate x 27538440 homes = 225,815 buys. (this is near the 180,000 number)
5591
5592 
5593
5594WWF Royal Rumble 1994 (1/22/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 28240320 homes = 254,162 buys. (this is above the 200,000 number)
5595
5596WWF WrestleMania X (3/20/1994): 1.68 buyrate x 28776500 homes = 483,445 buys. (this is near the 420,000 number)
5597
5598WWF King of the Ring 1994 (6/19/1994): 0.85 buyrate x 29580770 homes = 251,436 buys. (this is above the 185,000 number)
5599
5600WWF SummerSlam 1994 (8/29/1994): 1.3 buyrate x 30116950 homes = 391,520 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)
5601
5602WWF Survivor Series 1994 (11/23/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 30921220 homes = 278,290 buys. (no estimate in NS list)
5603
5604 
5605
5606WWF Royal Rumble 1995 (1/22/1995): 1 buyrate x 31457400 homes = 314,574 buys. (this is above the 225,000 number)
5607
5608WWF WrestleMania XI (4/2/1995): 1.3 buyrate x 31462550 homes = 409,013 buys. (this is above the 340,000 number)
5609
5610WWF In Your House #1 (5/14/1995): 0.83 buyrate x 31464266 homes = 261,153 buys. (this is above the 180,000 number)
5611
5612WWF King of the Ring 1995 (6/25/1995): 0.65 buyrate x 31465983 homes = 204,528 buys. (this is above the 150,000 number)
5613
5614WWF In Your House #2 (7/23/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31467700 homes = 220,273 buys. (this is above the 155,000 number)
5615
5616WWF SummerSlam 1995 (8/27/1995): 0.9 buyrate x 31469416 homes = 283,224 buys. (this is above the 205,000 number)
5617
5618WWF In Your House #3 (9/24/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31471133 homes = 220,297 buys. (this is above the 160,000 number)
5619
5620WWF In Your House #4 (10/22/1995): 0.4 buyrate x 31472850 homes = 125,891 buys. (this is above the 90,000 number)
5621
5622WWF Survivor Series 1995 (11/19/1995): 0.57 buyrate x 31474566 homes = 179,405 buys. (no estimate)
5623
5624WWF In Your House #5 (12/17/1995): 0.35 buyrate x 31476283 homes = 110,166 buys. (no estimate)
5625
5626 
5627
5628WWF Royal Rumble 1996 (1/21/1996): 1.1 buyrate x 31478000 homes = 346,258 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number or was this for WM?)
5629
5630WWF In Your House #6 (2/18/1996): 0.75 buyrate x 31764263 homes = 238,231 buys.
5631
5632WWF WrestleMania XII (3/31/1996): 1.2 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 388,041 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number)
5633
5634WWF Good Friends, Better Enemies (4/28/1996): 0.65 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 210,189 buys.
5635
5636WWF Beware of Dog #1 (5/26/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys.
5637
5638WWF Beware of Dog #2 (5/28/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys. (this was the make-up airing)
5639
5640WWF King of the Ring 1996 (6/23/1996): 0.6 buyrate x 32909316 homes = 197,455 buys.
5641
5642WWF International Incident (7/21/1996): 0.37 buyrate x 33195580 homes = 122,823 buys.
5643
5644WWF SummerSlam 1996 (8/18/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 33481843 homes = 194,194 buys.
5645
5646WWF Mind Games (9/22/1996): 0.48 buyrate x 33768106 homes = 162,086 buys.
5647
5648WWF Buried Alive (10/20/1996): 0.4 buyrate x 34054370 homes = 136,217 buys.
5649
5650WWF Survivor Series 1996 (11/17/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 34340633 homes = 199,175 buys.
5651
5652WWF It's Time (12/15/1996): 0.35 buyrate x 34626896 homes = 121,194 buys.
5653
5654 
5655
5656WWF Royal Rumble 1997 (1/19/1997): 0.7 buyrate x 34913160 homes = 244,392 buys.
5657
5658WWF The Final Four (2/16/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35025475 homes = 175,127 buys.
5659
5660WWF WrestleMania XIII (3/23/1997): 0.77 buyrate x 35137791 homes = 270,560 buys. (this is above the 237,000 number)
5661
5662WWF Taker's Revenge (4/20/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35250107 homes = 176,250 buys.
5663
5664WWF A Cold Day in Hell (5/11/1997): 0.57 buyrate x 35362423 homes = 201,565 buys.
5665
5666WWF King of the Ring 1997 (6/8/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35474739 homes = 177,373 buys.
5667
5668WWF Canadian Stampede (7/6/1997): 0.59 buyrate x 35587055 homes = 209,963 buys.
5669
5670WWF SummerSlam 1997 (8/3/1997): 0.8 buyrate x 35699370 homes = 285,594 buys. (this was above the 250,000 number)
5671
5672WWF Ground Zero (9/7/1997): 0.45 buyrate x 35811686 homes = 161,152 buys.
5673
5674WWF Badd Blood 1997 (10/5/1997): 0.6 buyrate x 35924002 homes = 215,544 buys.
5675
5676WWF Survivor Series 1997 (11/9/1997): 0.89 buyrate x 36036318 homes = 320,723 buys.
5677
5678WWF D-Generation X (12/7/1997): 0.44 buyrate x 36148634 homes = 159,053 buys.
5679
5680 
5681
5682WWF Royal Rumble 1998 (1/18/1998): 0.97 buyrate x 36260950 homes = 351,731 buys.
5683
5684WWF No Way Out 1998 (2/15/1998): 0.52 buyrate x 36310541 homes = 188,814 buys.
5685
5686WWF WrestleMania XIV (3/29/1998): 2.3 buyrate x 36360133 homes = 836,283 buys. (this was above the 730,000 number)
5687
5688WWF Unforgiven 1998 (4/26/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36409725 homes = 309,482 buys.
5689
5690WWF Over the Edge 1998 (5/31/1998): 0.58 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 211,751 buys.
5691
5692WWF King of the Ring 1998 (6/28/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 310,325 buys.
5693
5694WWF Fully Loaded 1998 (7/26/1998): 0.9 buyrate x 36558500 homes = 329,026 buys.
5695
5696WWF SummerSlam 1998 (8/30/1998): 1.63 buyrate x 36608091 homes = 596,711 buys. (this was below that debated 700,000 number)
5697
5698WWF Breakdown (9/27/1998): 0.86 buyrate x 36657683 homes = 315,256 buys.
5699
5700WWF Judgment Day 1998 (10/18/1998): 0.89 buyrate x 36707275 homes = 326,694 buys.
5701
5702WWF Survivor Series 1998 (11/15/1998): 1.3 buyrate x 36756866 homes = 477,839 buys.
5703
5704WWF Rock Bottom (12/13/1998): 0.78 buyrate x 36806458 homes = 287,090 buys.
5705
5706 
5707
5708WWF Royal Rumble 1999 (1/24/1999): 1.88 buyrate x 36856050 homes = 692,893 buys. (this was above the 650,000 buys)
5709
5710WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre (2/14/1999): 1.21 buyrate x 37097382 homes = 448,878 buys.
5711
5712WWF WrestleMania XV (3/28/1999): 2.32 buyrate x 37338715 homes = 866,258 buys. (this was above the 800,000 number)
5713
5714WWF Backlash 1999 (4/25/1999): 1.06 buyrate x 37580047 homes = 398,348 buys.
5715
5716WWF Over the Edge 1999 (5/23/1999): 1.1 buyrate x 37821380 homes = 416,035 buys.
5717
5718WWF King of the Ring 1999 (6/27/1999): 1.13 buyrate x 38062712 homes = 430,108 buys.
5719
5720WWF Fully Loaded 1999 (7/25/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 38304045 homes = 360,058 buys.
5721
5722WWF SummerSlam 1999 (8/22/1999): 1.61 buyrate x 38545377 homes = 620,580 buys. (this was slightly below the 650,000 number)
5723
5724WWF Unforgiven 1999 (9/26/1999): 0.85 buyrate x 38786710 homes = 329,687 buys.
5725
5726WWF No Mercy 1999 (10/17/1999): 0.84 buyrate x 39028042 homes = 327,835 buys.
5727
5728WWF Survivor Series 1999 (11/14/1999): 1.14 buyrate x 39269375 homes = 447,670 buys.
5729
5730WWF Armageddon 1999 (12/12/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 39510707 homes = 371,400 buys.
5731
5732 
5733
5734On average, I'm low for 1988/1989, about 20% high for 1990-1992, okay for 1993, about 25% high for 1994-1997 and near for 1998-1999. I didn't correlate all of my article blurbs with this list yet - I used the buyrate estimates that came from the ProWrestlingHistory spreadsheet.
5735
5736Wow, please send me all your sources too. I'd like to go over them. I suspect some of these numbers are high. (For the Dec. 1995 IYH, I had the number at close to 80000.) But thanks a ton for doing the work for me. ;) I'll update this stuff when I get the time once I examine what Meltzer's numbers are for key events and the discrepancy that your numbers give. I'll use basically an intuitive type of statistics to see how well those numbers pass (basically a standard deviation of sorts). Super work.
5737
5738Guest Nell Santucci
5739Guest Nell Santucci
5740Guests
5741Report post 
5742Posted June 30, 2013
5743  mookeighana said:
5744Some other tidbits I collected from Multichannel News and other magazines:
5745
5746 
5747
5748"WCW Starrcade (1997)- Up until the December 1997 Starrcade event, the Time Warner lnc.-owned World Championship Wrestling outfit was considered by most industry observers second fiddle to the World Wrestling Federation. But after ringing up 625,000 buys and grossing $18 million - and then following up with other impressive PPV performances, the WCW clearly established itself as a force to be reckoned with for the future." - Multichannel News , March 1 1999 (Best of the Rest)
5749
5750 
5751
5752"Bash at the Beach (1997) - 500,000 buys said Jay Hassman, PPV director at Time Warner Inc." - Multichannel News, July 20 1998 (Mailman Delivers for Cable PPV Managers.)
5753
5754actual quote was " He predicted that the final tally (for 1998's Bash at the Beach) would indicate a total of around 600,000 buys. Hassman added that WCW was hoping only to match last year's Bash mark of 500,000 buys."
5755
5756 
5757
5758"Wrestlemania (1998) - Wrestlemania XIV event pulled in more than 700,000 buys, and that event still stands as the most successful PPV program of the year." - Multichannel News, June 22 1998
5759
5760 
5761
5762Halloween Havoc (1998) - 500k buys ".. bested WCW's previous high of approximately 500,000 buys, set in October (1998).. " - Multichannel News, Jan 12 1998
5763
5764 
5765
5766"The company is averaging between a 0.8 percent and a 0.9 percent, slightly above last year's figures." - regarding 1996 WCW PPV business, Multichannel News, Dec 2 1996
5767
5768 
5769
5770"Operators did say, however, that TitanSports' January WWF Royal Rumble (1995) and Turner Home Entertainment's February SuperBrawl V (1995) and March WCW Uncensored (1995) enjoyed moderate success." - Multichannel News, May 15 1995
5771
5772 
5773
5774Halloween havoc (1994): "Buoyed by the appearance of former World Wrestling Federation icon Hulk Hogan, Turner Home Entertainment's Oct. 20 Halloween Havoc drew nearly double the buy-rates normally associated with WCW events, operators said. Although Turner representatives could not be reached for comment, operators estimate the event, which featured Hogan and Ric Flair in a steel cage match, generated around a 1 percent buy-rate." -Multichannel News 10/31/94 (Turner wrestling scores)
5775
5776 
5777
5778Starrcade 1991: "Nationally, the event garnered a 1 percent buy-rate, according to industry sources." "Turner to try credit cards again." Multichannel News (April 20, 1992)
5779
5780 
5781
5782Halloween Havoc 1991: "..generated close to a 1 percent buy-rate" - "'Loyal' wrestling fans help Turner PPV event." Multichannel News 11/4/1992
5783
5784 
5785
5786"In fact, PPV wrestling accounted for approximately $72 million of the nearly $150 million generated by PPV events in 1990, said Sharon Sidello, vice president of PPV TV for Turner Home Entertainment. In the last few years, however, buy-rates for both WCW and WWF events have fallen. For example, 1991's Wrestlemania VII generated a 3.5 percent buy-rate, down from 1990's Wrestlemania VI's 4.5 percent buy-rate in 1990 and Wrestlemania V's 5.6 percent buy-rate in 1989. THE's Starcade series has also seen buy-rates fall from a 2 in 1989 to a 1.1 for last year's show, according to industry sources. Some industry observers point to an expansion of the PPV addressable universe as a reason for the shrinking buy-rates. But some operators finger the increase in prices for the events, particularly the WWF shows, as the primary cause of the decline. As buy-rates fell for Wrestlemania, the price rose from $24.95 for Wrestlemania V to $29.95 for Wrestlemania VI and VII. Similar patterns have occurred with SummerSlam (4.8 buy-rate at $18.50 in 1989, 4.3 buy-rate at $27.50 in 1990) and Royal Rumble (3.2 at $14.95 in 1989, 2.8 at $18 in 1990 and 2.2 at $22.50 in 1991)." - Multichannel News 12.n27 (July 8, 1991) "WWF, Turner wrestle with PPV problems"
5787
5788 
5789
5790Wrestlemania VII: "The event, which sold at a suggested retail of $29.95, generated around 800,000 buys and earned a preliminary buy-rate of 4.8 to 4.9 percent, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan's World Wrestling Federation. But industry sources inside the PPV industry estimated Wrestlemania VII buy-rates at 3.5 to 4, probably closer to the lower number. Those sources said last year's Wrestlemania earned a 5.0. "We're happy with it," Desjardin said. "Anytime you generate $24 million (PPV revenues) in one day, it's positive." Desjardin added, however, that the event was down from last year's, which generated 825,000 buys, a 5 percent buy-rate." - April 8, 1991 (Multichannel News) "'Wrestlemania VII' buys down"
5791
5792 
5793
5794Summerslam 1991: "Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for TitanSports, estimated that the event garnered a "disappointing" 3.6 percent buy-rate, 15 percent lower than last year's national buy-rate. Despite the low buy-rate, Desjardin said, the event "still generated a large amount of money for the industry." At 608,000 buys, Titan would have grossed roughly $16.7 million.Another operator said the WWF has hiked prices 45 percent since 1988, when the event was $18.50" - 9/2/91 Multichannel News "SummerSlam' PPV buy-rates termed disappointing."
5795
5796 
5797
5798Wrestlemania VIII: "The event generated a "very preliminary" buy-rate of under 4 percent, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. He added that the event will most likely fall below last year's event from both revenue and total-buy standpoints, although Titan only had 400 out of more than 2,000 systems reporting at presstime. Wrestlemania VII generated around a 3.5 percent buy-rate, according to sources." - April 13 1992 (Multichannel News) 'Wrestlemania VIII' buys slump.
5799
5800 
5801
5802WBF: "The event, the first for Titan's recently created bodybuilding federation, generated a 0.1 to 0.2 percent buy-rate, with a number of systems reporting numbers below 0.1 percent, accordipg to operators." (Multichannel News, Titan WBF event offers little lift - June 22 1992)
5803
5804 
5805
5806Summerslam 1993: "The event generated a little less than a 2 percent buy-rate, operators said, which would place it slightly below the 2.3 percent the show earned last year." -Multichannel News (9/6/93) "SummerSlam stems buy-rate skid. "
5807
5808 
5809
5810Summerslam 1994: "Buy-rates for the event were up as much as 10 percent over last year, said Titan Sports. The event generated nearly 400,000 buys, slightly above the 360,000 buys the event drew in 1993, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. Operators pegged the buy-rate at about a 1 to a 1.5 percent." - Multichannel News (9/12/94) "Pizza pies help Titan 'SummerSlam' score dough."
5811
5812 
5813
5814Wrestlemania 7 & Wrestlemania 1994: "While Desjardin doesn't expect buys to reach the 764,000 record mark reached by Wrestlemania VII, he said they could surpass the 416,000 buys generated by last year's version (Wrestlemania 1994)." - "Titan custom-'Tayloring' latest wrestlemania." Multichannel News March 6, 1995
5815
5816 
5817
5818In your House: 1: "Skip Desjardin, vice president of PPV for TitanSports, which owns the WWF franchise, said buy-rates for In Your House managed to reach the 1 percent mark, generating approximately 200,000 to 225,000 buys." - May 29, 1995 ( WWF's 'House' surprises,) $14.95 price point, Multichannel News
5819
5820 
5821
5822IYH events prior to May 1996: Beware of Dog: "In Your House events -- which Titan introduced last year -- have averaged between 180,000 and 200,000 buys since the beginning of the year." - June 3 1996 (Multichannel News) - article is about Titan having to offer a different replay to make up for the feed getting screwed up and many providers expecting to refund the $19.95 to complaining customers
5823
5824 
5825
5826Wrestlemania 1998: "The WWF's March 28 "Wrestlemania XV" drew a wrestling-best 875,000 buys at $34.95 each -- which means the company earned more than $30 million in revenue from two hours of television." - Variety, June 19 1999 (Wrestling with Success)
5827
5828 
5829
5830Survivor Series 1992: "TitanSports' Nov. 25 Survivor Series World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event could not stem the tide of declining buy-rates, which have fallen 30 percent below last year's figures. The event generated close to a 2 percent buy-rate, pinning down approximately 365,000 buys, said Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for Titan. He added that the event's performance was close to that of Titan's August SummerSlam PPV event and generally matched the company's 30 percent slide in buy-rates for all of its 1992 events." - Multichannel News, 12/21/92
5831
5832 
5833
5834Royal Rumble 1992: "Rumble's price went up from $22.95 to $24.95. The WWF said, however, that preliminary results show the event actually outgrossed last year's, partly on the strength of a price hike. Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for the WWF, admitted that Rumble's buy-rate was down from last year, but said the event increased the number of buys over last year, although it was too early to give specific numbers." - Multichannel News, Feb 3 1992
5835
5836 
5837
5838This Tuesday in Texas 1992: "However, operators also reported that buy-rates for the WWF's Nov. 27 Survivor Series - the ending of which was the basis for the This Tuesday in Texas second event six days later - were down slightly from last year's event. Operators were not allowed to promote Texas until after the conclusion of Survivor, which saw champion Hulk Hogan lose his title to The Undertaker. The WWF provided a promotional spot for the special event - the main feature of which was a rematch of the Hogan-Undertaker bout in which Hogan regained his title - immediately after Survivor. But Desjardin said subscribers were satisfied that they got their money's worth out of the Survivor event. He added that the WWF has no intentions of attempting another surprise event in the near future. ... [one person added that viewers] might have resented paying about $40 for the two events in less than a week." - Multichannel News, Dec 9 1991 (events were
5839
584027.95 price for Survivor and $12.95 for the WWF special event)
5841
5842 
5843
5844No Holds Barred: The Match/The Movie: "Viewer's Choice serves some 5.5 million addressable homes, over one-third of the addressable universe. Most of that 5.5 million total comes from the MSO's who own the service. The second-largest PPV service, Request, does not carry WWF events. Traditionally, WWF events have been one of PPV's leading revenue sources, but the overall revenue for the January event could be curtailed if major blocks of the industry do not carry it. DeVito said 6.2 million homes are currently under contract for the Jan. 21 event, and WWF expects to have 8 million by then. That is short of the 12 million to which the Dec. 27 event was available. Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990
5845
5846 
5847
5848Wrestlemania 4: "The third in the World Wrestling Federation's series may have been the charm, because last March's Wrestlemania IV showed NYT Cable PPV director Steve Rockabrand that "the product has reached the end of its competitive life cycle." The Cherry Hill, NJ system, which does sales of $6.50 per month per sub on its 62,000 PPV universe, reports its buy rate for the latest event fell four percentage points short of the 10.9% scored by Wrestlemania III. By WWF Count, Wrestlemania IV was available to 11.1 million PPV homes, with the previous record going to the WWF Survivor Series of last November. The federation estimates the buy rate on more than 700 systems which carried the event at 9.8%. For NYT's part, Rockabrand feels that newer PPV systems whose subscribers may not have had the exposure to the previous series may have done better than NYT's 6.9% at $19.95 a transaction. The current holder of the PPV crown at NYT is not Randy Savage, winner of the Wrestlemania contest, but rather Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray of Dirty Dnacing with 27.3% buy-rate. As for those who he expects to depose the reigning champs, Rockabrand hopes it will be Tyson-Spinks, although his system has yet to sign the deal." - Television/Radio Age, April 18, 1988
5849
5850 
5851
5852"The WWF reports that its revenue from pay-per-view events has been flat over the past five years, averaging about $25 million a year. The WCW's pay-per-view numbers have doubled since Hulk Hogan walked through the door last summer, but it's not clear that this kind of growth can continue. The WCW generated about $13 million from pay-per-view last year." - Viva Hulk! By: Kimelman, John, FW, 00152064, 2/14/95, Vol. 164, Issue 4 (Article opens with a BURIAL of Kevin Nash)
5853
5854 
5855
5856Wrestlemania IX: "Cable operators were not too disappointed with the performance of TitanSports Inc.'s April 4 Wrestlemania IX pay-per-view event despite the decline in its buy-rates from last year. Although the company did not have specific buy-rates for the event, Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for TitanSports, said the event's results will most likely be better than those of last January's Royal Rumble, which performed better than last November's Survivor Series." - April 12 1993, Multichannel News
5857
5858 
5859
58601990 PPV Business: "Karpas added that despite the popularity of boxing and wrestling events on PPV, the buy-rates average only around 7 percent." - Feb 4 1991, Multichannel News
5861
5862 
5863
5864"McMahon's WWF is still bigger, grossing an estimated $84 million. Turner's executive producer Eric Bischoff, says, "My goal is to break $50 million." - Fortune, 10/16/95 (about Time Warner buying Turner Broadcasting and focuses that WCW may be a key asset) "Clinching the Deal: Hulk to Time Warner!"
5865
5866 
5867
5868March 2000: "WCW PPV events this year have averaged a 0.28 buy-rate, down about 50 percent from an 0.55 buy-rate in 1999. The 1999 buy-rate also fell about 50 percent from the 1.03 WCW pulled in 1998, according to the company." March 27, 2000 Multichannel News (WCW OVERHAULS PPV UNIT MANAGEMENT)
5869
5870 
5871
5872October 2000: "The disparity is even greater on the PPV side. The WWF averages around a 1.35 buy-rate on monthly events, while the WCW's buy-rates have been as low as 0.2 percent." - 10/9/2000 Multichannel News (WCW May Work with Rival.)
5873
5874 
5875
5876ECW Events as of 1999: "ECW currently averages around 70,000 to 75,000 buys per event, which pales in comparison with average six-figure buy numbers for the monthly PPV events staged by WCW and the WWF." - Acclaim's ECW deal includes equity piece., Multichannel News; 11/29/99, Vol. 20 Issue 49, p34, 2/7p
5877
5878 
5879
5880Backlash 2000 - "Operators reported that the WWF generated between 625,000 and 725,000 buys and more than $19 million in revenue for Backlash, which featured the return of popular wrestler Austin." - WWF Knocks Out Fight on PPV., Multichannel News; 05/08/2000, Vol. 21 Issue 19, p5, 2p, 1 Color Photograph
5881
5882 
5883
5884ECW Barely Legal: "A pay-per-view event, "Barely Legal," garnered 45,000 buys, and Extreme Championship Wrestling muscled its way into the big time. More PPV shows and 150 annual live arena events generated buzz on the Internet among wrestling fans." - from a "The Marketing 100" in Advertising Age, 6/26/2000, Vol. 71 Issue 27, ps33, 1/5p
5885
5886 
5887
58882001 PPV results: "Showtime recently released a survey called “The Pay-Per-View Industry Review & Digital Cable PPV Study 2001.” Key findings include: Fifty million, or nearly half of all U.S. TV homes, have access to PPV—two-thirds of those via satellite or digital cable.
5889
5890WWF events on the Top 10 PPV events list
5891
5892#1 Wrestlemania X-Seven April 1 $27,965,000
5893
5894#4 No Way Out Feb. 25 $16,173,000,
5895
5896#6 Royal Rumble, Jan. 21, $15,574,000
5897
5898#7 Summerslam, Aug. 19, $14,226,250
5899
5900#7 Unforgiven, Sept. 23, $14,226,250
5901
5902#9 Survivor Series , Nov. 18 $13,178,000" - "Wrestling and boxing bring 'em to the mat. By: Phipps, Jennie L., Electronic Media, 07450311, 3/4/2002, Vol. 21, Issue 9"
5903
5904 
5905
5906Royal Rumble 1997 & 1998: "In its pay-per-view ventures, the WWF's "Royal Rumble" event in January scored 318,000 buy-ins, 114,000 more than last year, for a 56 percent increase."
5907
5908IYH 1996/1997: "The "In Your House" PPV event in December scored 151,000 buy-ins, up 22 percent over the previous year, despite a price increase from $19.95 to $29.95 over that same period."
5909
5910- WWF pins down larger audience. By: Spring, Greg, Electronic Media, 07450311, 02/09/98, Vol. 17, Issue 7
5911
5912 
5913
5914SummerSlam 1992/1991: "Although Titan did not have specific buy-rates for the event, Skip Desjardin, manager of PPV marketing for the WWF, said preliminary numbers show a decline in performance from last year's (1991) 3.1 percent buy-rate." - Wrestling taken to the mat again. (declining buy-rates for pay-per-view wrestling events), Multichannel News 14.n5 (Feb 1, 1993): pp15(1).
5915
5916 
5917
5918WWF: "WWF has lined up 11.5 million addressable homes for its upcoming Summer Slam '88" Sugar Ray's PPV pot of gold. (Sugar Ray Leonard)., Broadcasting 115.n7 (August 15, 1988): pp41(1).
5919
5920 
5921
5922Superbrawl 1994: "Meanwhile, the WCW averaged slightly less than a 1 percent buy-rate for its Feb. 20 SuperBrawl IV PPV event, operators said. Most operators said the event did about as well as, and in some cases better than, last year's event." - Turner Entertainment close to signing Hulk Hogan for WCW. (Turner Entertainment Co.; World Championship Wrestling). Multichannel News 15.n9 (Feb 28, 1994): pp14(1).
5923
5924 
5925
5926"able system addressability (the ability to deliver PPV programing) is expected to climb to 23 million homes by the end of 1995, a 3% boost over year-end 1994, according to Showtime Event Television; The wrestling category raked in an estimated $70 million in PPV revenue in 1994, and promoters are looking to push that number even higher this year." - PPV outlook: partly sunny. (pay-per-view television). Broadcasting & Cable 125.n14 (April 3, 1995): pp30(1). (Article also notes that Playboy TV gets 900k orders a month)
5927
5928All I get when looking at these sources is a massive headache. 1990's Summerslam did around 550,000 buys. Even with the size of the PPV universe increasing into 1991, business was down from the previous year. I cannot conceive in any way that a tag team main event of a dead feud would have done more than 600,000 buys. That's just impossible.
5929
5930 
5931
5932One problem with these numbers is figuring exactly what came from WWF and what came from actual sources within the PPV industry. That one guy, Basil, from WWF used to grossly overexaggerate their buys, and it'd often be the case that the real number was 20% lower than what Basil claimed. So it becomes frustrating when considering what's true and what's not. Sources, even if wrong, is a good way to put some strong direction to these numbers. That's partly why you're so valuable to this project. It's just that I often don't know what to believe any more. Maybe Meltzer is wrong sometimes?
5933
5934mookeighana
5935mookieghana
5936mookeighana
5937Members
5938492 posts
5939Location:Saint Paul, MN
5940Report post 
5941Posted June 30, 2013
5942The PPV universe numbers came from page 871 (Appendix C) in "Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting" which cites a "TV Dimensions 2000" study from Media Dimensions which in turn was based on a Statistical Research, Inc. "SMART TV Ownership Survey, Spring 1999". (If you go to the amazon page, do a "search inside" and type in "Kagan" you should find the table as the second hit.). As I said before, I spent almost a whole day just searching for any kind of a definitive estimate on this from 1985-2000. I fear that it may be missing the influence that satellite started to play by the mid 90s as we saw how much the directtv battle at WWF cost them.
5943
5944 
5945
5946The buy rates came from Jason Campbell Pro Wrestling History spreadsheet. I asked him and he said most of the buyrate numbers came from Meltzer but occasionally he used other sources.
5947
5948 
5949
5950I will send you a copy of all the articles I found. In general, I found multichannel news to be closest to accurate while all others were either quoting some other source or not really concerned with giving a detailed buyrate.
5951
5952 
5953
5954Lastly, we know WWF buys from mid 1995 onwards since they published that in their early SEC prospectus. I am planning on doing a better accounting where I overlay that information to see if anything stands out.
5955
5956 
5957
5958Overall, the picture is starting to come together at least but yes e varying sources are headaches, but that's why this project has been broached many times and most people just get frustrated and walk away... Not us!
5959
5960 
5961
5962I'm on my ipad now so I will just copy an example of the WWE SEC total buys stuff from something I posted on F4W years ago...
5963
5964 
5965
5966  Quote
5967TY 2006 (May 06 to Dec 06): 3,287,300 worldwide buys with 11 events = $53.4MM revenue - $19.3MM cost = $34.1MM; $15.46 revenue/buy; $34.95 for May 06 PPV and $39.95 price-tag for rest of the PPVs
5968
5969(Domestic buys for this transitional period were 61%; avg domestic buys/PPV = 182,296)
5970
5971 
5972
5973FY 2006 (May 05 to April 06): 6,241,100 worldwide buys with 16 events = $94.8MM revenue - $42.2MM cost = $52.6MM; $14.96 revenue/buy; $34.95/$49.95 price-tag.
5974
5975(WM had 925,000 buys; Domestic buys for this period were 63%; avg doemstic buys/PPV = 245,743)
5976
5977 
5978
5979FY 2005 (May 04 to April 05): 5,280,800 worldwide buys with 14 events = $85.5MM revenue - $36.3MM cost = $49.2MM; $15.94 revenue/buy; $34.95/$49.95 price-tag.
5980
5981(WM had 983,000 buys; Domestic buys for this period were 70%; "The increase in pay-per-view cost of revenues is due, in part, to approximately $3.2 million of costs related to the production of the two additional events in fiscal 2005, as well as an investment in global marketing campaigns in support of our pay-per-view business and the WWE brand."; avg. domestic buys/PPV = 264,040)
5982
5983 
5984
5985FY 2004 (May 03 to April 04): 5,604,000 worldwide buys with 12 events = $95.3MM revenue - $36.0MM cost = $59.3MM; $34.95/$49.95 price-tag.
5986
5987(WM had 885,000 buys; "In addition, the proportion of international buys, which carry a lower price, as compared to total buys continued to increase during the current year. ")
5988
5989 
5990
5991FY 2003 (May 02 to April 03): 5,378,100 worldwide buys with 12 events = $91.1MM revenue - $36.7MM cost = $54.4MM; $29.95/$44.95 price-tag.
5992
5993(WM had 560,000 buys)
5994
5995 
5996
5997FY 2002 (May 01 to April 02): 7,135,464 worldwide buys with 12 events = $112.0MM revenue - $42.5MM cost = $69.5MM; $24.95/$39.95 price-tag.
5998
5999 
6000
6001FY 2001 (May 00 to April 01): 8,010,400 worldwide buys with 12 events = $128.2MM revenue - $41.6MM cost = $86.6MM; $24.95/$39.95
6002
6003 
6004
6005FY 2000 (May 99 to April 00): 6,884,600 worldwide buys with 12 events $24.95/$39.95
6006
6007 
6008
6009FY 1999 (May 98 to April 99): 5,365,100 worldwide buys with 12 events $24.95/$39.95
6010
6011 
6012
6013FY 1998 (May 97 to April 98): 2,936,100 buys
6014
6015FY 1997 (May 96 to April 97): 2,252,200 buys
6016
6017FY 1996 (May 95 to April 96): 2,831,700 buys
6018
6019http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/109...004115-0001.txt
6020
6021Guest Nell Santucci
6022Guest Nell Santucci
6023Guests
6024Report post 
6025Posted June 30, 2013
6026  mookeighana said:
6027The PPV universe numbers came from page 871 (Appendix C) in "Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting" which cites a "TV Dimensions 2000" study from Media Dimensions which in turn was based on a Statistical Research, Inc. "SMART TV Ownership Survey, Spring 1999". (If you go to the amazon page, do a "search inside" and type in "Kagan" you should find the table as the second hit.). As I said before, I spent almost a whole day just searching for any kind of a definitive estimate on this from 1985-2000. I fear that it may be missing the influence that satellite started to play by the mid 90s as we saw how much the directtv battle at WWF cost them.
6028
6029 
6030
6031The buy rates came from Jason Campbell Pro Wrestling History spreadsheet. I asked him and he said most of the buyrate numbers came from Meltzer but occasionally he used other sources.
6032
6033 
6034
6035I will send you a copy of all the articles I found. In general, I found multichannel news to be closest to accurate while all others were either quoting some other source or not really concerned with giving a detailed buyrate.
6036
6037 
6038
6039Lastly, we know WWF buys from mid 1995 onwards since they published that in their early SEC prospectus. I am planning on doing a better accounting where I overlay that information to see if anything stands out.
6040
6041 
6042
6043Overall, the picture is starting to come together at least but yes e varying sources are headaches, but that's why this project has been broached many times and most people just get frustrated and walk away... Not us!
6044
6045 
6046
6047I'm on my ipad now so I will just copy an example of the WWE SEC total buys stuff from something I posted on F4W years ago...
6048
6049 
6050
6051  Quote
6052TY 2006 (May 06 to Dec 06): 3,287,300 worldwide buys with 11 events = $53.4MM revenue - $19.3MM cost = $34.1MM; $15.46 revenue/buy; $34.95 for May 06 PPV and $39.95 price-tag for rest of the PPVs
6053
6054(Domestic buys for this transitional period were 61%; avg domestic buys/PPV = 182,296)
6055
6056 
6057
6058FY 2006 (May 05 to April 06): 6,241,100 worldwide buys with 16 events = $94.8MM revenue - $42.2MM cost = $52.6MM; $14.96 revenue/buy; $34.95/$49.95 price-tag.
6059
6060(WM had 925,000 buys; Domestic buys for this period were 63%; avg doemstic buys/PPV = 245,743)
6061
6062 
6063
6064FY 2005 (May 04 to April 05): 5,280,800 worldwide buys with 14 events = $85.5MM revenue - $36.3MM cost = $49.2MM; $15.94 revenue/buy; $34.95/$49.95 price-tag.
6065
6066(WM had 983,000 buys; Domestic buys for this period were 70%; "The increase in pay-per-view cost of revenues is due, in part, to approximately $3.2 million of costs related to the production of the two additional events in fiscal 2005, as well as an investment in global marketing campaigns in support of our pay-per-view business and the WWE brand."; avg. domestic buys/PPV = 264,040)
6067
6068 
6069
6070FY 2004 (May 03 to April 04): 5,604,000 worldwide buys with 12 events = $95.3MM revenue - $36.0MM cost = $59.3MM; $34.95/$49.95 price-tag.
6071
6072(WM had 885,000 buys; "In addition, the proportion of international buys, which carry a lower price, as compared to total buys continued to increase during the current year. ")
6073
6074 
6075
6076FY 2003 (May 02 to April 03): 5,378,100 worldwide buys with 12 events = $91.1MM revenue - $36.7MM cost = $54.4MM; $29.95/$44.95 price-tag.
6077
6078(WM had 560,000 buys)
6079
6080 
6081
6082FY 2002 (May 01 to April 02): 7,135,464 worldwide buys with 12 events = $112.0MM revenue - $42.5MM cost = $69.5MM; $24.95/$39.95 price-tag.
6083
6084 
6085
6086FY 2001 (May 00 to April 01): 8,010,400 worldwide buys with 12 events = $128.2MM revenue - $41.6MM cost = $86.6MM; $24.95/$39.95
6087
6088 
6089
6090FY 2000 (May 99 to April 00): 6,884,600 worldwide buys with 12 events $24.95/$39.95
6091
6092 
6093
6094FY 1999 (May 98 to April 99): 5,365,100 worldwide buys with 12 events $24.95/$39.95
6095
6096 
6097
6098FY 1998 (May 97 to April 98): 2,936,100 buys
6099
6100FY 1997 (May 96 to April 97): 2,252,200 buys
6101
6102FY 1996 (May 95 to April 96): 2,831,700 buys
6103
6104http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/109...004115-0001.txt
6105
6106How reliable do you think the SEC is? This is getting to be a serious headache.
6107
6108mookeighana
6109mookieghana
6110mookeighana
6111Members
6112492 posts
6113Location:Saint Paul, MN
6114Report post 
6115Posted July 1, 2013
6116  Nell Santucci said:
6117How reliable do you think the SEC is? This is getting to be a serious headache.
6118
6119Personally? I consider them the most credible source. Dave's #s are almost always based off a combination of the monthly KPIs and the 8-k filings where they list specific PPV buys. For other groups, he'll use feedback or cable industry people as a source, but for WWE it's the financial filings that drive most of the discussion. He reaches out to WWE when a number doesn't jive or when they give a vague response (for instance, when December 2 Dismember came out, we were shocked at how low it was and asked WWE if that was the worldwide or domestic number and they wrote back to confirm that it was in fact a worldwide number meaning domestic was even lower than that).
6120
6121 
6122
6123Yes, it's a headache but that's why everyone wants to do this and then gives up. I've been following this for years and I've probably read every single SEC filing WWE has ever done. You find different nuggets in different places, especially pre-2005 when they were pretty cagey about admitting numbers (they'd post things like "PPV revenue was up $3M versus last year except for the 2 events that were held in the early quarter"). However, if you trace it all back (which I've done), you can get to some pretty good estimates. It just takes a lot of patience and a lot of very articulate spreadsheets.
6124
6125NintendoLogic
6126Grim and frostbitten
6127NintendoLogic
6128Members
61294179 posts
6130Report post 
6131Posted July 1, 2013
6132Making false filings with the SEC is a federal offense, so I'm pretty sure they're reliable.
6133
6134mookeighana
6135mookieghana
6136mookeighana
6137Members
6138492 posts
6139Location:Saint Paul, MN
6140Report post 
6141Posted July 1, 2013
6142  NintendoLogic said:
6143Making false filings with the SEC is a federal offense, so I'm pretty sure they're reliable.
6144
6145Exactly.. Like, I believe WWE fudges the announced attendance numbers for Wrestlemania. But when it comes to PPV revenue and PPV buys, they do their darndest to be accurate because that's a hard & fast metric which is being tracked.
6146
6147Now, on the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), that's not filed with the SEC. That isn't to say I think they lie on there. It's just that I've found mistakes on there before. (I've actually one tiny mistake on the SEC filings before like messing up their historical PPV prices but it was a really minor thing.) When they started renaming PPVs month to month and year over year, sometimes I'd see a KPI where they had the wrong title or it looked like they swapped two datapoints.
6148
6149However, for the most part it's remarkably consistent.
6150
6151 
6152
6153The only parts which are not crystal clear are:
6154
6155 
6156
6157#1) Domestic/Int'l Split (there are numbers they'll drop occasionally in their Annual Report or 8-K filings, but it's not consistent. However, they've started being very transparent in the Key Performance Indicators regarding this, so that's something. There is quarterly data from 2008 onwards from KPIs that I have on this. They have annual data for 2005-2007 they quoted in the annual report.
6158
6159 
6160
6161#2) Prior Period Purchases. Again, the KPI has a line graph, where it seems like they "bump" up the PPVs to attribute those prior period buys. However, now they _usually_ keep the same number they initially reported in the prior 8-K year-over-year. Yet, in the past, there are cases where they USED to bump PPV quotes up and down. To be honest, I haven't found it to be completely consistent except to say that there just isn't nearly the amount of prior period buys each year as there once was. (2006: 459k buys, 2007: 217 buys, 2008: 385k buys, 2009: 275k buys, 2010: 23k buys, 2011: 204k buys, 2012: 244k buys). A quarter million prior period buys would only move any one PPV event up about 20,000 buys and in reality, a disproportionate amount prior period buys usually goes to either Rumble, Summerslam or (especially) Wrestlemania.
6162
6163 
6164
6165What does this mean? This is one of the reasons you'll see the difference between Dave's estimate and WWE's SEC filings and the WWE KPI.
6166
6167Dave tries to quote the # of buys for an event including an estimate for domestic/int'l split along with applying prior period buys. If you just look up the PPV # on the quarterly 8-K filing, it's going to be an initial worldwide number - no prior period buys added in (usually). If you look at the monthly KPI chart, you'll see the worldwide number most likely with prior event buys added in. So, it's three different numbers which aren't really "wrong" from each other, but certainly often don't match.
6168
6169 
6170
6171(And lastly, WWE has a little blurb in their annual report which always gives me that little bit of uneasiness whenever I pretend I know what the hell this or that really did: Revenues from our pay-per-view programming are recorded when the event is aired and are based upon our initial estimate of the number of buys achieved. This initial estimate is based on preliminary buy information received from our pay-per-view distributors. Final reconciliation of the pay-per-view buys occurs within one year and subsequent adjustments to the buys are recognized in the period new information is received. Historically, adjustments made to our initial estimates have not had a significant impact on our revenues, although this may not be the case in the future. Our pay-per-view accounts receivable balance was $10.9 million and $11.7 million at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.)
6172
6173 
6174
6175Over the past 8 years, I'd wager I've read every single SEC filing that WWE has made since the started publishing in 1999. That's not to say that I understood it all, though.
6176
6177Guest Nell Santucci
6178Guest Nell Santucci
6179Guests
6180Report post 
6181Posted July 2, 2013
6182  mookeighana said:
6183I've been working my way through the thread and cross-referencing all of the information. First of all, great job by everyone. As I said before, I've long been working on looking at these things. From 2000-onwards, there is a wealth of SEC materials (especially the periodic financial 10-Q) filings which have a lot of juicy nuggets about PPV buys. The hard part was always 1985-1999, which is being filled in quite nicely here.
6184
6185 
6186
6187There's a really nice spreadsheet at http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/eventinfo.xls that lists all of the PPVs and has a "PPV buyrate" next to many of the events. It's certainly as fallible as every single other list out there. However, since it fills in a lot of gaps, I thought I would try an experiment where I would take the buyrates from the spreadsheet and push them up against the "# of PPV capable homes" from the Broadcasting Appendix table that I found. (I did use an even slope for every year so the universe "expands" as the year goes by. In reality, I'm sure these expansions were hardly linear, but since the overall universe expansion was roughly linear, I decided to just go with it.)
6188
6189 
6190
6191WWF (comparisons to other numbers already listed in this thread)
6192
6193 
6194
6195WWF WrestleMania I (3/31/1985): 1.1 buyrate x 2119195 homes = 23,311 buys. (JNLister: 398,000 (CCT) and a negligibly small number of PPV buys)
6196
6197WWF Wrestling Classic (11/7/1985): 2.5 buyrate x 4710599 homes = 117,764 buys. (this seems high - estimates previously were 43k to 60k buys)
6198
6199 
6200
6201WWF WrestleMania II (4/7/1986): 7 buyrate x 5654650 homes = 395,825 buys. (250,000 in NS list, JNLister: 319,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and Andre the Giant's handful on PPV.)
6202
6203 
6204
6205WWF WrestleMania III (3/29/1987): 8 buyrate x 6472033 homes = 517,762 buys. ( 400,000 (PPV); 450,000 (CCT); 450,000 (Closed Circuit Television) and another 400,000 on PPV)
6206
6207WWF Survivor Series 1987 (11/26/1987): 7 buyrate x 7297766 homes = 510,843 buys. (this seems high: 325,000 in NS list)
6208
6209 
6210
6211WWF WrestleMania IV (3/27/1988): 6.5 buyrate x 7786150 homes = 506,099 buys. ( 485,000; JNLister: 175,000 (Closed Circuit Television), Approx 650,000 on PPV)
6212
6213WWF SummerSlam 1988 (8/29/1988): 4.5 buyrate x 8491025 homes = 382,096 buys. (this seems low; estimate was 500,000 in NS list and 400,000 in Observer notes)
6214
6215WWF Survivor Series 1988 (11/24/1988): 2.8 buyrate x 8913950 homes = 249,590 buys. (this is close - 310,000 buys)
6216
6217 
6218
6219WWF Royal Rumble 1989 (1/15/1989): 1.5 buyrate x 9195900 homes = 137,938 buys. (this is close = 165,000 buys)
6220
6221WWF WrestleMania V (4/2/1989): 5.9 buyrate x 10313650 homes = 608,505 buys. (this is low,767,000 buys is the common number)
6222
6223WWF SummerSlam 1989 (8/28/1989): 4.8 buyrate x 11803983 homes = 566,591 buys. (numbers between 575,000 and 625,000 have been published)
6224
6225WWF Survivor Series 1989 (11/23/1989): 3.3 buyrate x 12921733 homes = 426,417 buys. (this is a little higher than the 385,000 number)
6226
6227WWF No Holds Barred (12/27/1989): 1.6 buyrate x 13294316 homes = 212,709 buys. ("Gross buys for the four showings of the movie and the event, DeVito estimated, was 300,000." - Broadcasting Jan 1 1990)
6228
6229 
6230
6231WWF Royal Rumble 1990 (1/21/1990): 2 buyrate x 13666900 homes = 273,338 buys. (this is close to 260,000)
6232
6233WWF WrestleMania VI (4/1/1990): 4.5 buyrate x 14365500 homes = 646,447 buys. (this is higher than then 550,000 to 560,000 number)
6234
6235WWF SummerSlam 1990 (8/27/1990): 3.8 buyrate x 15296966 homes = 581,284 buys. (this is close to the 550,000 number though the article from 7/8/91 had the buyrate higher up at 4.3)
6236
6237WWF Survivor Series 1990 (11/22/1990): 3 buyrate x 15995566 homes = 479,866 buys. (this is above the 400,000 number)
6238
6239 
6240
6241WWF Royal Rumble 1991 (1/19/1991): 2.4 buyrate x 16461300 homes = 395,071 buys. (this is below the 440,000 number)
6242
6243WWF WrestleMania VII (3/24/1991): 2.8 buyrate x 17064910 homes = 477,817 buys. (this is higher than the 400,000 number)
6244
6245WWF SummerSlam 1991 (8/26/1991): 2.7 buyrate x 18573935 homes = 501,496 buys. (this is VASTLY above the 375,000 to 405,000 numbers) - however the 9/2/91 article calls it "608,000 buys"
6246
6247WWF Survivor Series 1991 (11/27/1991): 2.2 buyrate x 19479350 homes = 428,545 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)
6248
6249WWF Tuesday in Texas (12/3/1991): 1 buyrate x 19781155 homes = 197,811 buys. (this is slightly above the 140,000 number)
6250
6251 
6252
6253WWF Royal Rumble 1992 (1/19/1992): 1.8 buyrate x 20082960 homes = 361,493 buys. (this is above the 260,000 number)
6254
6255WWF WrestleMania VIII (4/5/1992): 2.3 buyrate x 21069480 homes = 484,598 buys. (this is above the 360,000 to 390,000 numbers)
6256
6257WWF SummerSlam 1992 (8/29/1992): 1.5 buyrate x 22384840 homes = 335,772 buys. (this is above the 285,000 number)
6258
6259WWF Survivor Series 1992 (11/25/1992): 1.4 buyrate x 23371360 homes = 327,199 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)
6260
6261 
6262
6263WWF Royal Rumble 1993 (1/24/1993): 1.25 buyrate x 24029040 homes = 300,363 buys. (this is below the 430,000 number or was that for WM?)
6264
6265WWF WrestleMania IX (4/4/1993): 2 buyrate x 25081860 homes = 501,637 buys. (this is above the 430,000 number)
6266
6267WWF King of the Ring 1993 (6/13/1993): 1.1 buyrate x 25783740 homes = 283,621 buys. (this is close to the 245,000 number)
6268
6269WWF SummerSlam 1993 (8/30/1993): 1.3 buyrate x 26485620 homes = 344,313 buys. (this is above the 250,000 number)
6270
6271WWF Survivor Series 1993 (11/24/1993): 0.82 buyrate x 27538440 homes = 225,815 buys. (this is near the 180,000 number)
6272
6273 
6274
6275WWF Royal Rumble 1994 (1/22/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 28240320 homes = 254,162 buys. (this is above the 200,000 number)
6276
6277WWF WrestleMania X (3/20/1994): 1.68 buyrate x 28776500 homes = 483,445 buys. (this is near the 420,000 number)
6278
6279WWF King of the Ring 1994 (6/19/1994): 0.85 buyrate x 29580770 homes = 251,436 buys. (this is above the 185,000 number)
6280
6281WWF SummerSlam 1994 (8/29/1994): 1.3 buyrate x 30116950 homes = 391,520 buys. (this is much higher than the 300,000 number)
6282
6283WWF Survivor Series 1994 (11/23/1994): 0.9 buyrate x 30921220 homes = 278,290 buys. (no estimate in NS list)
6284
6285 
6286
6287WWF Royal Rumble 1995 (1/22/1995): 1 buyrate x 31457400 homes = 314,574 buys. (this is above the 225,000 number)
6288
6289WWF WrestleMania XI (4/2/1995): 1.3 buyrate x 31462550 homes = 409,013 buys. (this is above the 340,000 number)
6290
6291WWF In Your House #1 (5/14/1995): 0.83 buyrate x 31464266 homes = 261,153 buys. (this is above the 180,000 number)
6292
6293WWF King of the Ring 1995 (6/25/1995): 0.65 buyrate x 31465983 homes = 204,528 buys. (this is above the 150,000 number)
6294
6295WWF In Your House #2 (7/23/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31467700 homes = 220,273 buys. (this is above the 155,000 number)
6296
6297WWF SummerSlam 1995 (8/27/1995): 0.9 buyrate x 31469416 homes = 283,224 buys. (this is above the 205,000 number)
6298
6299WWF In Your House #3 (9/24/1995): 0.7 buyrate x 31471133 homes = 220,297 buys. (this is above the 160,000 number)
6300
6301WWF In Your House #4 (10/22/1995): 0.4 buyrate x 31472850 homes = 125,891 buys. (this is above the 90,000 number)
6302
6303WWF Survivor Series 1995 (11/19/1995): 0.57 buyrate x 31474566 homes = 179,405 buys. (no estimate)
6304
6305WWF In Your House #5 (12/17/1995): 0.35 buyrate x 31476283 homes = 110,166 buys. (no estimate)
6306
6307 
6308
6309WWF Royal Rumble 1996 (1/21/1996): 1.1 buyrate x 31478000 homes = 346,258 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number or was this for WM?)
6310
6311WWF In Your House #6 (2/18/1996): 0.75 buyrate x 31764263 homes = 238,231 buys.
6312
6313WWF WrestleMania XII (3/31/1996): 1.2 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 388,041 buys. (this is above the 290,000 number)
6314
6315WWF Good Friends, Better Enemies (4/28/1996): 0.65 buyrate x 32336790 homes = 210,189 buys.
6316
6317WWF Beware of Dog #1 (5/26/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys.
6318
6319WWF Beware of Dog #2 (5/28/1996): 0.45 buyrate x 32623053 homes = 146,803 buys. (this was the make-up airing)
6320
6321WWF King of the Ring 1996 (6/23/1996): 0.6 buyrate x 32909316 homes = 197,455 buys.
6322
6323WWF International Incident (7/21/1996): 0.37 buyrate x 33195580 homes = 122,823 buys.
6324
6325WWF SummerSlam 1996 (8/18/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 33481843 homes = 194,194 buys.
6326
6327WWF Mind Games (9/22/1996): 0.48 buyrate x 33768106 homes = 162,086 buys.
6328
6329WWF Buried Alive (10/20/1996): 0.4 buyrate x 34054370 homes = 136,217 buys.
6330
6331WWF Survivor Series 1996 (11/17/1996): 0.58 buyrate x 34340633 homes = 199,175 buys.
6332
6333WWF It's Time (12/15/1996): 0.35 buyrate x 34626896 homes = 121,194 buys.
6334
6335 
6336
6337WWF Royal Rumble 1997 (1/19/1997): 0.7 buyrate x 34913160 homes = 244,392 buys.
6338
6339WWF The Final Four (2/16/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35025475 homes = 175,127 buys.
6340
6341WWF WrestleMania XIII (3/23/1997): 0.77 buyrate x 35137791 homes = 270,560 buys. (this is above the 237,000 number)
6342
6343WWF Taker's Revenge (4/20/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35250107 homes = 176,250 buys.
6344
6345WWF A Cold Day in Hell (5/11/1997): 0.57 buyrate x 35362423 homes = 201,565 buys.
6346
6347WWF King of the Ring 1997 (6/8/1997): 0.5 buyrate x 35474739 homes = 177,373 buys.
6348
6349WWF Canadian Stampede (7/6/1997): 0.59 buyrate x 35587055 homes = 209,963 buys.
6350
6351WWF SummerSlam 1997 (8/3/1997): 0.8 buyrate x 35699370 homes = 285,594 buys. (this was above the 250,000 number)
6352
6353WWF Ground Zero (9/7/1997): 0.45 buyrate x 35811686 homes = 161,152 buys.
6354
6355WWF Badd Blood 1997 (10/5/1997): 0.6 buyrate x 35924002 homes = 215,544 buys.
6356
6357WWF Survivor Series 1997 (11/9/1997): 0.89 buyrate x 36036318 homes = 320,723 buys.
6358
6359WWF D-Generation X (12/7/1997): 0.44 buyrate x 36148634 homes = 159,053 buys.
6360
6361 
6362
6363WWF Royal Rumble 1998 (1/18/1998): 0.97 buyrate x 36260950 homes = 351,731 buys.
6364
6365WWF No Way Out 1998 (2/15/1998): 0.52 buyrate x 36310541 homes = 188,814 buys.
6366
6367WWF WrestleMania XIV (3/29/1998): 2.3 buyrate x 36360133 homes = 836,283 buys. (this was above the 730,000 number)
6368
6369WWF Unforgiven 1998 (4/26/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36409725 homes = 309,482 buys.
6370
6371WWF Over the Edge 1998 (5/31/1998): 0.58 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 211,751 buys.
6372
6373WWF King of the Ring 1998 (6/28/1998): 0.85 buyrate x 36508908 homes = 310,325 buys.
6374
6375WWF Fully Loaded 1998 (7/26/1998): 0.9 buyrate x 36558500 homes = 329,026 buys.
6376
6377WWF SummerSlam 1998 (8/30/1998): 1.63 buyrate x 36608091 homes = 596,711 buys. (this was below that debated 700,000 number)
6378
6379WWF Breakdown (9/27/1998): 0.86 buyrate x 36657683 homes = 315,256 buys.
6380
6381WWF Judgment Day 1998 (10/18/1998): 0.89 buyrate x 36707275 homes = 326,694 buys.
6382
6383WWF Survivor Series 1998 (11/15/1998): 1.3 buyrate x 36756866 homes = 477,839 buys.
6384
6385WWF Rock Bottom (12/13/1998): 0.78 buyrate x 36806458 homes = 287,090 buys.
6386
6387 
6388
6389WWF Royal Rumble 1999 (1/24/1999): 1.88 buyrate x 36856050 homes = 692,893 buys. (this was above the 650,000 buys)
6390
6391WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre (2/14/1999): 1.21 buyrate x 37097382 homes = 448,878 buys.
6392
6393WWF WrestleMania XV (3/28/1999): 2.32 buyrate x 37338715 homes = 866,258 buys. (this was above the 800,000 number)
6394
6395WWF Backlash 1999 (4/25/1999): 1.06 buyrate x 37580047 homes = 398,348 buys.
6396
6397WWF Over the Edge 1999 (5/23/1999): 1.1 buyrate x 37821380 homes = 416,035 buys.
6398
6399WWF King of the Ring 1999 (6/27/1999): 1.13 buyrate x 38062712 homes = 430,108 buys.
6400
6401WWF Fully Loaded 1999 (7/25/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 38304045 homes = 360,058 buys.
6402
6403WWF SummerSlam 1999 (8/22/1999): 1.61 buyrate x 38545377 homes = 620,580 buys. (this was slightly below the 650,000 number)
6404
6405WWF Unforgiven 1999 (9/26/1999): 0.85 buyrate x 38786710 homes = 329,687 buys.
6406
6407WWF No Mercy 1999 (10/17/1999): 0.84 buyrate x 39028042 homes = 327,835 buys.
6408
6409WWF Survivor Series 1999 (11/14/1999): 1.14 buyrate x 39269375 homes = 447,670 buys.
6410
6411WWF Armageddon 1999 (12/12/1999): 0.94 buyrate x 39510707 homes = 371,400 buys.
6412
6413 
6414
6415On average, I'm low for 1988/1989, about 20% high for 1990-1992, okay for 1993, about 25% high for 1994-1997 and near for 1998-1999. I didn't correlate all of my article blurbs with this list yet - I used the buyrate estimates that came from the ProWrestlingHistory spreadsheet.
6416
6417Okay, so I got the exact numbers from the SEC website. So I'm reorganizing the PPV sheets in terms of fiscal year. WWE's 1995 fiscal year is from April 30, 1995 to April 30, 1996 (08-03-1999). The exact number of buys for that fiscal year is 1,868,900.
6418
6419 
6420
6421Using my formula, one gets
6422
6423 
6424
6425In Your House (May 1995) - 183,219
6426
6427KOTR 95 - 146,380
6428
6429IYH II - 157,045
6430
6431SummerSlam 95 -206,500
6432
6433IYH III - 159,953
6434
6435IYH IV - 90,010
6436
6437Survivor Series 95 - 128,082
6438
6439IYH V - 74,098
6440
6441Royal Rumble 96 - 258,402
6442
6443IYH VI - 126,403
6444
6445 
6446
6447That leaves Wrestlemania XII and Good Friends, Better Enemies for April 1996's In Your House. We know that Wrestlemania XII did roughly 290,000 buys. I'll have to wait until this week or next week to get Meltzer's PPV revenue number, which should be close. So we'll leave the Good Friends, Better Enemies to the imagination for now and use the 290,000 buys figure for Wrestlemania XII until we can get a better number.
6448
6449 
6450
6451That adds up to 1,820,093, which is roughly 50,000 buys off from the theoretic values. Good Friends, Better Enemies probably did around 100,000 buys, meaning I'd be off anywhere between 50,000 to 100,000 buys from the theoretic value (meaning Michaels/Diesel drew well in April 1996, though I doubt that was the case for a fairly unpopular champion, without Bret Hart's following, even if he went against a reasonably competent opponent, which is more than I can say about the British Bulldog who had no business headlining PPVs if those numbers mean anything).
6452
6453 
6454
6455Using your formula for that fiscal year, we have 2,787,656, which is approximately 920,000 over theoretic buyrate and anywhere between 10 to 20 times over my formula. I tried to correct these results by using the .46 fudge factor, which comes out to 1,282,321 - or nearly 600,000 buys off the theoretic value. That tells me those calculations were essentially meaningless and that the variables of price of PPV and the revenue generated provide significantly more meaningful results.
6456
6457 
6458
6459Since that has been established - though we can use other results and still continue the research by whatever means necessary to get a clearer picture - the quickest manner in which we can continue to progress without getting bogged down in unnecessary complications is finding those PPV prices. That's what's missing most of all, and WCW often didn't even state the PPV price. So that will further complicate calculations.
6460
6461 
6462
6463I hope that helps. Most of all, the formula seems to suggest that we're on the right track.
6464
6465mookeighana
6466mookieghana
6467mookeighana
6468Members
6469492 posts
6470Location:Saint Paul, MN
6471Report post 
6472Posted July 8, 2013
6473Annual WWE PPV Revenue (does not include live gate or venue merchandise) - I have it by quarter as well if needed.
6474
6475 
6476
64775/1/1994 to 4/30/1995: 1,868,900 buys
6478
64795/1/1995 to 4/30/1996: 2,831,700 buys
6480
64815/1/1996 to 4/30/1997: $26.6M ( 2,252,200 buys)
6482
64835/1/1997 to 4/30/1998: $43.7M ( 2,936,100 buys)
6484
64855/1/1998 to 4/30/1999: $80.8M ( 5,365,100 buys)
6486
64875/1/1999 to 4/30/2000: $106.4M ( 6,884,600 buys)
6488
64895/1/2000 to 4/30/2001: $128.2M ( 8,010,400 buys)
6490
64915/1/2001 to 4/30/2002: $112.0M ( 7,135,464 buys)
6492
64935/1/2002 to 4/30/2003: $91.1M ( 5,378,100 buys)
6494
64955/1/2003 to 4/30/2004: $95.3M ( 5,604,000 buys)
6496
64975/1/2004 to 4/30/2005: $85.5M ( 5,280,800 buys)
6498
64995/1/2005 to 4/30/2006: $94.8M ( 6,241,100 buys)
6500
6501 
6502
6503Also, I found an interesting tidbit in one of the investor presentations about the split for int'l/domestic PPV revenue...
6504
65052006: $74.1 (domestic) + $19.5M (int'l)
6506
65072007: $76.6 (domestic) + $17.7M (int'l)
6508
65092008: $73.6 (domestic) + $17.8M (int'l)
6510
65112009: $65.0 (domestic) + $15.0M (int'l)
6512
65132010: $58.5 (domestic) + $11.7M (int'l)
6514
65152011: $65.8 (domestic) + $12.5M (int'l)
6516
6517mookeighana
6518mookieghana
6519mookeighana
6520Members
6521492 posts
6522Location:Saint Paul, MN
6523Report post 
6524Posted July 31, 2013
6525I'm back in the old article hunt.
6526
6527 
6528
6529I found an NY Times article from November 1989 titled (what brilliance!) "THIS IS NOT REAL"
6530
6531Kleinfield, N R. New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) [New York, N.Y] 26 Nov 1989: A.1.
6532
6533 
6534
6535Two highlights:
6536
6537 
6538
6539  Quote
6540The N.W.A. expects revenues next year to reach $50 million, up from about $33 million this year (the World Wrestling Federation is expected to gross more than $150 million this year). On television, a big part of its audience is 12- to 17-year-olds, which is why advertisers like Kenner Toys, Tonka, M & M Mars, the National Dairy Board and Parker Brothers fork over about $25,000 for 30-second spots.
6541
6542  Quote
6543The group is working on electronic contraptions to heighten interest among children. When completed, the gadgets will be shown to focus groups of young fans to get a reading on them.
6544
6545 
6546
6547In development, for instance, is a ''rage-meter'' that will somehow measure the amount of rage a wrestler is feeling at any given time. Fans will be able to learn, say, whether a wrestler who has just had his teeth kicked out feels blood-curdling rage or perhaps just mild displeasure. Another device being studied is a ''slam-meter.'' It will reveal the force of a slam to the mat. Was it a back-breaker of a slam? Was it a career-ender?
6548
6549mookeighana
6550mookieghana
6551mookeighana
6552Members
6553492 posts
6554Location:Saint Paul, MN
6555Report post 
6556Posted February 11, 2014
6557I bit the bullet and tried again to decipher WCW buyrates and WCW buys: http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2014/02/deciphering-wcw-buyrates.html
6558
6559Bix
6560Bix
6561DVDVR 80s Project
65626273 posts
6563Report post 
6564Posted February 11, 2014
6565  On 7/31/2013 at 1:02 PM, mookeighana said:
6566I'm back in the old article hunt.
6567
6568 
6569
6570I found an NY Times article from November 1989 titled (what brilliance!) "THIS IS NOT REAL"
6571
6572Kleinfield, N R. New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) [New York, N.Y] 26 Nov 1989: A.1.
6573
6574 
6575
6576Two highlights:
6577
6578 
6579
6580 
6581
6582  Quote
6583The N.W.A. expects revenues next year to reach $50 million, up from about $33 million this year (the World Wrestling Federation is expected to gross more than $150 million this year). On television, a big part of its audience is 12- to 17-year-olds, which is why advertisers like Kenner Toys, Tonka, M & M Mars, the National Dairy Board and Parker Brothers fork over about $25,000 for 30-second spots.
6584
6585  Quote
6586The group is working on electronic contraptions to heighten interest among children. When completed, the gadgets will be shown to focus groups of young fans to get a reading on them.
6587
6588 
6589
6590In development, for instance, is a ''rage-meter'' that will somehow measure the amount of rage a wrestler is feeling at any given time. Fans will be able to learn, say, whether a wrestler who has just had his teeth kicked out feels blood-curdling rage or perhaps just mild displeasure. Another device being studied is a ''slam-meter.'' It will reveal the force of a slam to the mat. Was it a back-breaker of a slam? Was it a career-ender?
6591
6592I'm starting to understand how working with Jim Herd scarred Cornette so badly.
6593PeteF3
6594PeteF3
6595Members
65969834 posts
6597Report post 
6598Posted February 11, 2014
6599As we found out on Where the Big Boys Play, the Slam-o-Meter made it as far as Capital Combat, where it made its first and possibly last appearance. Ross' open disdain for the concept was palpable.
6600
6601Charles (Loss)
6602Charles (Loss)
6603Admins
660444846 posts
6605Report post 
6606Posted February 11, 2014
6607I wonder whose idea the "Refer-Eye" at Halloween Havoc '91 was. It feels like something I would say on a podcast as a joke, only it actually happened.
6608
6609 PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NEXT  Page 6 of 7  
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6642 Home  Pro Wrestling  Pro Wrestling  A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
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6644Guest The Jiz
6645A Demand for a Comprehensive PPV Buyrate List
6646By Guest The Jiz, July 11, 2012 in Pro Wrestling
6647 PREV 2 3 4 5 6 7 Page 7 of 7  
6648mookeighana
6649mookieghana
6650mookeighana
6651Members
6652492 posts
6653Location:Saint Paul, MN
6654Report post 
6655Posted February 12, 2014
6656BTW, i posted a link with 2006-2013 WWE PPV buys (with citiations from Wrestling Observer) split worldwide/domestic on my blog back in December: http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.com/2013/12/wwe-2006-2013-ppv-numbers-and-lengthy.html
6657
6658Bix
6659Bix
6660DVDVR 80s Project
66616273 posts
6662Report post 
6663Posted January 19, 2015
6664Confirmation that WM1 was on PPV from Broadcasting.
6665
6666 
6667
6668It did a 10% buyrate among however few homes actually had access.
6669
6670Bix
6671Bix
6672DVDVR 80s Project
66736273 posts
6674Report post 
6675Posted January 19, 2015
6676A few weeks after Survivor Series '87, Titan was claiming a 7.5% buyrate for about 525,000 buys in the available universe, which I kind of doubt.
6677
6678Johnny Sorrow
6679Johnny Sorrow
6680Members
66815004 posts
6682Report post 
6683Posted January 20, 2015
6684  On 1/19/2015 at 11:52 PM, Bix said:
6685A few weeks after Survivor Series '87, Titan was claiming a 7.5% buyrate for about 525,000 buys in the available universe, which I kind of doubt.
6686
66871z1fhup.jpg
6688
6689Jmare007
6690Jmare007
6691Members
66922218 posts
6693Report post 
6694Posted January 20, 2015
6695How the hell did this ended up with an image from a TV channel from Chile? :lol:
6696
6697goc
6698A disgrace to Joe Blanchard
6699goc
6700Members
67017478 posts
6702Location:Virginia
6703Report post 
6704Posted January 20, 2015
6705Whatever happened to our topic maker? Did he go off the rails and I've forgotten it?
6706
6707JaymeFuture
6708JaymeFuture
6709Members
6710616 posts
6711Report post 
6712Posted February 16, 2015
6713Just on the Mania 12 and Good Friends, Better Enemies buyrates, Meltzer at the time tabbed them as:
6714
6715 
6716
6717Mania 12: 1.2 buyrate, 300,000 buys
6718
6719IYH7: 0.81 and 190,000 buys
6720
6721Bix
6722Bix
6723DVDVR 80s Project
67246273 posts
6725Report post 
6726Posted August 13, 2019
6727*bump*
6728
6729I found a Kagan-sourced chart of the top 20 PPVs of the '80s in the November 1989 issue of Channels, which includes the PPV universe, buy rate, and gross for each show. I proceeded to write way too much about it: https://babyfacevheel.substack.com/p/i-fell-down-a-historical-ppv-buy
6730
6731(If you want to skip to the key data for now, that's all in bold text, so you can skim before you read.)
6732
6733Only one of the numbers, Survivor Series '87, is the same as what we've always used. The rest fluctuate greatly, usually upwards. Maybe because the newsletters generally reported on buy rates just a few weeks out when accurate PPV data always took famously long amounts of time to come in?
6734
6735(Also, not in the chart, but something I included citing a different Channels article: The first WrestleMania apparently did over 100,000 buys on PPV, which is pretty incredible given the limited clearances and the national publicity explicitly advertising the arena experience.)
6736
6737I'm VERY curious what everyone else thinks.
6738
6739Steve T
6740Steve T
6741Members
674248 posts
6743Report post 
6744Posted August 13, 2019
6745Awesome stuff Bix! For comparison sake what was the size of the PPV universe during the attitude era?
6746
6747War is Raw
6748War is Raw
6749Members
6750138 posts
6751Report post 
6752Posted August 13, 2019
6753"Ten million people went to wrestling matches during the past year [1988], and 30 million watch them on TV each week. The audience is not only in trailer parks and six -flats but in the Princeton Club of New York, where the downstairs TV set is often tuned to wrestling on Saturday. Although yuppies and their journalistic camp followers discovered wrestling a couple of years ago and gave it a tussle, its life in the mainstream has endured..." https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Channels-of-Communication/Channels-1989-01.pdf
6754
6755How do these Hulkamania numbers compare to previous eras (1940s-1950s Gorgeous George/DuMont Network, 1970s territories, early 1980s TBS)?
6756
6757 
6758
6759 PREV 2 3 4 5 6 7 Page 7 of 7  
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