AEW May Learn Tough Lesson With Monthly Pay-Per-View Events

AEW Full Gear went down on November 18th, 2023, and television viewership data has provided favorable results for Tony Khan. They brought a big show to the Kia Forum, and they expected results. With so many pay-per-views in the pipeline, AEW may not need to expect huge numbers for every event.

These numbers may also address concerns that AEW’s increased show schedule could negatively impact pay-per-view business. Dave Meltzer analyzed the television statistics for AEW Full Gear on Wrestling Observer Radio.

It appears that Full Gear did better than WrestleDream which was a new event on the company’s schedule. That being said, WrestleDream numbers were not high at all. They are about to learn how monthly pay-per-view events really affects business.

“Much better than WrestleDream. The TV numbers that I have, and because of the holiday I wouldn’t have as much detail as usual, but based on what I have, based on the number of days out and everything like that, it’s up 33% from WrestleDream. Streaming is not up as much.“

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“You have to remember as well that TV numbers for WrestleDream were pretty low. So it better have been up. And it was.”

“Their pay-per-view business is gonna be, dollar-wise, probably by far the biggest this year, by far of any other year. Because of the more shows, and because the All In show was such a huge success on pay-per-view as well. And the shows, other than All Out and WrestleDream, were all in the 140,000 range, and this one will be a little bit below that most likely. But looks like it’s gonna do very well.

“The idea that they were down permanently because of running too many shows didn’t happen. I guess one show’s too soon to say, next show we’ll probably learn a lot more, but overall, I would consider the number pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.”

AEW started up with a promise to fans that they wouldn’t overload them with pay-per-view events. It appears that they are now going with a monthly model, although Tony Khan never outright said that is the case. The company’s schedule is certainly telling that story.

We will have more updates on this story, and so many more, right here at Ringside News. You never know what will happen next, but we will be here with the headlines whenever anything breaks.

What’s your take on AEW moving to monthly pay-per-view events? Let us know what you think in the comments section!