I recently wrote about World Wrestling Entertainment's (NYSE: WWE) million-dollar giveaway plans. This is the scheme that sees the Mr. McMahon character reward viewers who register at the company's website with portions of his fortune. He calls them up on the phone during WWE's RAW program and doles out various sums; according to this press release, one winner got $200,000, while another player received $125,000. One poor hapless soul won $2! Remember, Mr. McMahon is an evil guy.

I tuned in to see how the contest would be presented and to get some sense of how it was received. It seemed a bit awkward and slow at times. A few in the audience screamed that they were bored. Personally, I thought it was goofy fun to see Vince McMahon calling people to hand out some of his money and enjoyed it for what it was. But WWE will need to optimize the segment and try to make it more exciting, as I don't think it came off exactly as it wanted. McMahon is supposed to keep handing out $1 million a week for an unspecified time period, so the company will have more chances to improve the presentation.

WWE wants to really juice the ratings for the RAW brand, hoping that viewers beyond the hardcore fan base will stop watching networks owned by CBS (NYSE: CBS), Disney (NYSE: DIS), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), and General Electric (NYSE: GE) long enough to sample the spectacle of the WWE product (of course, GE's NBC Universal owns the USA cable network, which RAW runs on). McMahon is smart to be trying something like this since WWE will be working its way up to perhaps one of its biggest pay-per-view opportunities ever: Wrestlemania 25. With a milestone like that coming, the company has a chance of really expanding its brand equity and setting the stage for long-term growth.

Continue reading WWE needs to make Vince McMahon's giveaway more exciting

WWE needs to make Vince McMahon's giveaway more exciting originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

World Wrestling Entertainment's (NYSE: WWE) Vincent Kennedy McMahon wants more viewers for his Monday Night Raw wrestling extravaganza. In fact, he's so keen on growing ratings that he's willing to spend his own money to keep viewers tuned. How much? Try $1 million.

In a terse press release concerning a promotional sweepstakes, WWE says that Raw viewers can register at the company's Web site and then watch for codes during the program beginning next Monday. People will be competing to win a portion of a $1 million giveaway each week for some unspecified time period. Now, before you think me naive, I made sure to see if this was legitimate, and from the looks of things it is. According to this AP article, McMahon will really be doing this. According to other reports, the June 9 Raw will reveal the details of the promotion. The $1 million will come from McMahon's own fortune (again, from what I understand, this is real).

There's no question as to why this is being done. WWE wants eyeballs. Ratings have been challenged as of late, according to that AP piece. I think giving away $1 million is exciting, and as far as a marketing campaign goes, it should boost ratings. Only problem is, I'd have to imagine that long-term shareholders aren't happy that this kind of gimmick has to be employed. Is wrestling becoming boring to people? Are they in need of other reasons to watch? Well, the answer would seem to be a resounding "yes."

Continue reading Is Vince McMahon bribing viewers to watch wrestling?

Is Vince McMahon bribing viewers to watch wrestling? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Former World Heavyweight wrestling champion, Chris Benoit, his wife, and seven-year-old son were found dead in the family's Atlanta home, according to AP Sports. Police believe it was a murder-suicide.

Benoit's wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name "Woman." They met when her then-husband drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of an ongoing story line on World Championship Wrestling. Did Benoit's wife have an affair with one of the wrestlers that sent Benoit into a jealous rage?

I don't know. But World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, TX, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.

None of this seems to be hurting its stock much -- WWE is down a mere 12 cents.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in WWE.

Benoit's murder suicide belts World Wrestling Entertainment originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.