SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
If you go to WWE’s Live Events page on their website, you’ll notice there are only two domestic house shows scheduled over the next month. Part of the cost-cutting measures undertaken by parent company TKO is the near-elimination of house shows on the WWE calendar. There’s no doubt that WWE is predominantly a TV product – most of their revenue comes from television rights fees – making house shows somewhat obsolete, especially compared to previous eras, where the television was used to draw fans to live events.
I
t really is a shame, though, that house shows are where TKO has decided to scale back. The first several live events I attended as a kid were house shows, which came through my area of New York more frequently than the syndicated television tapings would. There are whole swaths of the country that will be missing out on seeing their favorite wrestlers live because WWE would swing by for house shows, but the towns are too small to run TV in.
I’ve attended house shows here in South Florida over the past few years and the demographic of those that attend are much different than at TV tapings or pay-per views. It’s predominantly families at house shows, where WWE is able to hook fans on their product at a young age. There really is nothing like attending a show live if you want to make someone a fan, and house shows are priced much more reasonably for families than televised events. To be able to see these larger-than-life superstars live can leave a strong, positive impression on a child.
The wrestlers are missing out, too. Often, they’ll speak of house shows as being their favorite part of the job. It’s much less stressful than TV days. It allows them to interact with fans in ways they can’t on TV and gives them more freedom. That’s not even to mention the fact that it gives younger, more inexperienced wrestlers the opportunity to improve in front of a live audience, but without the pressure of being on television.
House shows may never completely disappear for the reasons above; it’s something largely ingrained in WWE culture. Yet even scaling back to this degree can be detrimental to various aspects of the business even if TKO sees it as a short-term money-saver.
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