You can help Keep the WWE in Australia
Late last year, as most of you would know, contract negotiations between Fox 8 and the WWE to renew the agreement for screening rights for WWE Smackdown! fell through. Austar, Foxtel and Optus television all screened the last few weeks of Smackdown! left on their contract before the show was removed from Australian television and replaced by UFC.
All this occured shortly after the Smackdown! brand's incredibly successful Global Warning tour, that drew a live audience that came from all across the country, giving Colonial Stadium a record breaking crowd in excess of 60, 000 people. Not only was the event itself an unprecedented success, but the Fan Fenzy convention which took place over two days prior to the show, was also off the charts, with all sessions barr one early on the Thursday morning completely selling out.
The raging success of this tour should have been a significant enough example to World Wrestling Entertainment that Sports Entertainment was more than marketable in this country. The vast spread of WWE releases, including videoes, DVDs and toys, in Australia has also jumped considerably over the past year, and this too should have been duly noted by the WWE.
Instead, this fact seemed to be ignored. The asking price for the renewal of the Smackdown! contract, according to Austar, had more than doubled, and when Fox 8 refused to pay this price, the WWE did not budge. Their pricing was not negotiable, and instead of keeping their programming on Australian television, Smackdown disappeared.
In a time when the WWE is suffering from failing ratings and poor sales in the United States it is imperative that the WWE pursues the international market with more enthusiasm than ever. For years now, the UK have been getting two PPV's per year, plus several house shows. The WWE also recently embarked on several highly successful tours in Asia, India and Europe. Sports Entertainment is hotter than ever internationally, but the threat of fading into the dust is very real. In the United States, the WWE are beginning to feel the pressure of outside competition. And while companies like XPW and NWA-TNA are not yet big enough to truly rival the company, perhaps its biggest threat comes instead from UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). A new breed of action-packed entertainment which ironically replaced Smackdown! in this country. A replacement which the WWE should never have allowed to occur.
The market in Australia for the WWE is completely untapped. The number of wrestling fans in this country has had a vast increase in the past few years due to the screening of WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown! and to allow said programming to be removed from our screens, the WWE are inviting a takeover, of sorts, by other wrestling companies and UFC.
Unfortunately, this problem did not stop there.
After the screening of WWE Argmageddon in December, WWE PPV's left our screens. The Royal Rumble, one of the biggest PPV's of the year, was not screened in this country. When I called to ask the reason for this I was informed that contract negotiations were taking place between Main Event and World Wrestling Entertainment. When I noted that No Way Out was also not being screened, I called Austar who again informed me that contract negotiations were still underway. Wanting an answer a little more concrete than that, I contacted Main Event directly. My inquiry was met with this response.
Thank you for your email. Main Event regrets that although negotiations had been underway for some time for the 2003 WWE season, the programming was too expensive and an agreement could not be reached. We do understand the disappointment, frustration and anger of the fans and for that, we apologise. We continue to leave our doors and windows open for the return of the WWE in future, however at this stage we do not know if/when that will be, it is up to the WWE.
Once again, the WWE has demanded more money and an Australian network has decided that the asking price is simply too high. Considering the buy rate in Australia for PPV's, which is very high all things considered, this seems ridiculous. The WWE are now denying us the chance to see PPV's live, or even on delay, including robbing us of Wrestlemania X9.
Now, only WWE Bottom Line, WWE Afterburn and WWE Raw remain on Australian televsion. And while Bottom Line and Afterburn are much welcomed relief considering we no longer receive Smackdown! or the PPV's, these shows are not the same as Raw or Smackdown! These programs are little more than recaps placed in poor timeslots, and while we still receive Raw, speaking for myself, I can not help but wonder what will happen when Raw's contract comes up for renewal. If we have already lost both Smackdown! and the PPV's, I think at this time, our chances of keeping Raw are slim at best.
The WWE is my passion. I am not going to lie and down play the fact that I am indeed obsessed. I order every PPV, I watch every Raw, every Smackdown!, every Bottom Line, every Afterburn. Not only did I fork out for two sessions of Fan Frenzy last year and Global Warning, I also travelled to the United States last March for a House Show, Axxess and Wrestlemania X8. I am not the only person in this country that has a passion for World Wrestling Entertainment. More than 60 000 people crammed into Colonial Stadium more than proved that at Global Warning.
On that night, Australian fans proved what wrestling means to us. We gave voice to Australia and our desire to be able to enjoy Sports Entertainment as many other countries get to time and time again. All I am asking now is that we give Australia it's voice again. Its a two way street here, we get wrestling, the WWE gets money in the bank. It's a win, win situation for everybody.
So the question is now... Do you want to help keep the WWE in Australia?
Questions? Comments? Sign the Guestbook below or e-mail Kalli at [email protected]
