WWE is seeking to make a major change to its business model for Raw and SmackDown which has been a regular feature of its PLE plans.
In recent comments at the JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference, TKO COO Mark Shapiro said that “attendance, site fees and prices” are key performance indicators while he talked about packaging UFC and WWE events.
He would note that the site fee doesn’t have to be “all cash” but WWE has to be “heavily incentivized to bring events to a city.”
Dave Meltzer has provided further insight into the site fees plans on Wrestling Observer Radio, saying:
“Right now, they’re just getting them for the pay-per-view shows, and not even necessarily every pay-per-view show in the United States. Although now that the B-shows have been pretty much moved overseas and they’re getting site fees for those shows, and the A-shows are gonna mostly be stadium shows – maybe Survivor Series will probably still be an arena show – but the idea is they’re working on getting site fees.
“They already do for Royal Rumble, SummerSlam and WrestleMania, and they’re working on getting them for Money in the Bank and Survivor Series, and now the next step is to get communities to pay them to bring Raw and SmackDown tapings in. Hey, more power to them if they can get it.
“I don’t know how many people as far as tourists flock to a city on a Monday or Friday when Raw and SmackDown are in town. They do come in for pay-per-views. But if they can get it… just to come to your city, they’re gonna want your city to pay.
“And it’s a great business to be in, it takes away all the risk of running shows if you’re getting paid to come in, that’s for sure.
“They’re giving you the building for free, and you’re gonna get paid to come in, and you’re gonna get other benefits from the city – promotional and everything like that, they’ll help you promote your event because it’s incumbent on them for the event to be a success because the whole idea of spending that money is to bring people into the city and come to restaurants and stay at hotels and all that.
“We’ll see if they can pull that off. If they do, that’s transformative.”
In 2023, WWE Backlash was hosted by Puerto Rico with it being reported that WWE was paid $1.5 million dollars to bring the PLE to the region.
WWE has already held Elimination Chamber (Australia) and Backlash (France) outside of the US this year, with King & Queen of the Ring (Saudi Arabia), Clash at the Castle (Scotland), Money in the Bank (Canada), and Bash in Berlin (Germany) also on the calendar for the coming months.
A recent report about the 2024 Backlash in Lyon, France revealed that WWE didn’t receive a site fee for the show.
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