I wrote aboutWorld Wrestling Entertainment's (NYSE:WWE) Wrestlemania 21 event shortly before it took place, attempting to get a bit of perspective on its potential. Well, the pay-per-view is now in the history books, and we've got some early results to look at.
Wrestlemania 21 has achieved a preliminary estimate of more than 940,000 pay-per-view buys, a 14% increase over last year's Wrestlemania 20. The numbers aren't final, though. WWE expects the final tally to surpass 1 million buys when all of the pay-per-view data becomes available (within a year). I believe we can call the latest Wrestlemania a success.
The stock didn't react like a rocket on the news, however. It's not surprising, really, considering that WWE needs to get itself on a growth track again. The market is certainly going to be skeptical of an investing philosophy that goes something like, "Well, since Wrestlemania 21 is up over Wrestlemania 20, we need to get on board." Nope, not that easy.
Nevertheless, this is a good showing for the event. In my opinion, it might justify a positive outlook on the company's prospects for the next couple of years, but there's a catch. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon must really seize the opportunity to stretch this success and reorient the company's creative center to its best possible path.
I'm sure the powers that be (wasn't that a storyline once?) in Stamford have analyzed every nuance of the show's design to see exactly what was responsible for the growth in the year-over-year results (to the extent that something like that can be seen, anyway). Was it the hall-of-fame presentation that preceded the program the night before or the appearance of Steve Austin on Piper's Pit?
Stockholders will certainly be hoping that the company will be able to bottle whatever "it" was and spread the magic to the rest of the monthly events. If Vince finds he cannot bottle anything from Wrestlemania 21, stockholders might have to remain patient and be content with a strategy of dividend reinvestment until the capital price catches up with the spectacle within the squared circle.
Enter the ring (if you dare):
- WWE: Investing Mania
- Wrestling With the Future
- WWE Goes Back to the USA
- Still in the ring? Can you handle the WWE discussion board?
Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns none of the companies mentioned. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
