AEW is doing what they can to drive attention and revenue, but it seems to be an uphill battle at this point. Now, the company’s own advertising could be an indicator that things aren’t going great.
During his Strictly Business podcast, Eric Bischoff said that a huge indicator as to why AEW is doing so poorly can be seen in the type of the ads they are running. It was noted that AEW is basically infomercial ads, which are somewhat the bottom of the barrel ads.
“You look at a show and you look at the quality of the commercials. You know, I talk about seeing patterns and dots connecting dots, in most ways that people don’t talk about it in the wrestling business, because that’s how my mind works.”
“I look at things and see those patterns, and you know, looking at things you can develop kind of an idea of where something is going. So you can see whether something is going well.”
“If you look at a show like WWE RAW or AEW Dynamite, you look at the quality of the commercials. Do the commercials generally fit the demo? If they do, then that suggests that someone is selling that programming against those advertisers. Those advertisers generally want to be on those shows, and they’re not make-goods.”
“On the other hand, if you look another show and you watch the show and you’re like ‘wow those ads are all over the place,’ those are make-goods. If you look at the amount of bought ads versus make-goods that will tell you the break-even point.”
“Look for sponsorships, regular sponsorships within the show. That means that someone is selling the inventory.”
This infomercial vibe means AEW is not selling ads and are basically running the lowest of the low ads. Those are make-goods, and not sold directly to the targeted demographic. They aren’t selling advertising time to big money advertisers. After all, they’ve upset some advertisers in the past.
If you remember, Dominos had a huge issue with AEW using a pizza cutter during a Nick Gage match only to cut to one of their pizza ads. This kind of thing could become a trend, and AEW may have a reputation as well.
We will have to see what AEW is able to do in 2024. Their television deals are running up, and Warner Brothers Discovery’s stance on re-signing them is another matter entirely.
What’s your take on AEW and how their business is doing? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
Transcription by Ringside News