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MIKE REYNOLDS
With only one boxing match, pay-per-view event revenue was knocked down in the third quarter.
Revenue totaled $66.8 million in the third quarter this year, a 47% fall from the $126 million generated by the industry in the corresponding period in 1999, according to a summary released by Showtime Event Television (SET) Pay Per View.
The report shows wrestling led the way in the period, with nine events producing $60.4 million.
Boosted by WWF Entertainment's Unforgiven, Summerslam and Fully Loaded on Sept. 24, Aug. 27 and July 23, respectively, grappling's take represented a 15% jump from the $52.5 million garnered during the 1999 quarter. For its part, World Championship Wrestling showcased five events, according to the report.
Conversely, the industry's PPV coffers only collected $4 million from one boxing event, Roy Jones Jr. versus Eric Harding Sept. 9. That's a 94% decline from the almost $67 million three boxing events fashioned in the 1999 quarter, headed by $64 million from the Felix Trinidad/Oscar De La Hoya fight presented by TVKO Sept. 18, 1999.
Together, wrestling (90%) and boxing (6%) accounted for about 96% of the event industry's PPV revenue in the third quarter, which also fell far short of second quarter 2000, a period that yielded $124.8 million.
"The decline in pay-per-view revenue this quarter can clearly be attributed to the fact that boxing events, which traditionally lead the category, were not distributed at the same level as past years," notes SET EVP/GM Mark Greenberg. "Nine wrestling events and one boxing event generated 96% of the revenue for the entire category. The industry must look beyond traditional ring sports if the pay-per-view event category is to continue to grow and expand."
Other events, down 24% to $1.08 million, and music, an 84% drop to $1.27 million from the prior-year period, combined to contribute just 4% of revenues.
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