Oh, what a difference a few days make. Last week I eviscerated Ring of Honor for their HonorClub that had few shows scheduled to air live. This week comes the announcement that the non-WWE Pro Wrestling event of the year, All In, is scheduled to air on HonorClub. But as they say on infomercials “Wait, there’s more…”
Cody, The Bucks and the All In team pulled a Distribution coup and a nearly flawless plan of distribution to maximize profits for the event.
On its face, it would seem that subscribing to HonorClub would be the best choice for avoiding a one-time payment for one event. This will be a great way to goose new subscriptions for the service- following the appeal of early ticket buying opportunities for Madison Square Garden’s G1 Supercard of Honor. ROH always had an inside track with All In based on their North American exclusive contracts with Cody and the Young Bucks. Plus al of the logistical help from the ROH team.
However, many people just don’t want to commit to a video on demand/ over the top pro wrestling service. Many people are just not interested in Ring of Honor and you have to meet them where they are.
The show will also run on Pay Per View and Fite.Tv. This will allow people who are more comfortable with a traditional pay per view order or a one-time purchase online (especially if they are international) to participate. It is not clear if ROH would have any ‘points’ or a cut of sales via this method.
But wait there’s more… WGN America will air the first hour of the show. Pro wrestling used to employ barker channels to hype a pay per view and motivate last minute purchases. Sunday Night Heat was utilized by the WWF(E) for this purpose as well. It’s nice to have an entry point for more casual fans to see what is going on when the station is distributed in 80 million homes. However, the All In team has to be cautious. Poor lighting, production and a mishmash of announcers may not meet high expectations for the event. By giving a free taste, some may no longer be hunger if the initial hour does not appeal.
Lavie Margolin is the author of TrumpMania: Vince McMahon, WWE and the making of America’s 45th President. Tweet him via @Laviemarg. Full disclosure: Lavie is a shareholder of Sinclair Broadcasting, parent company of Ring of Honor.
