Just like The Undertaker’s reign of invincibility at WrestleMania, WWE’s Wall Street hot streak has come to an end.
As of press time, the stock was down a whopping 21.0% amid news that the company’s network only secured 667,281 subscribers ahead of Sunday’s WrestleMania 30 event.
While WWE’s press release claims the network “is well on its way to reaching its goal of 1 million subscribers,” it is appears investors were looking for considerably more progress.
Because WrestleMania is irrefutably the most compelling element of the WWE Network package, the feeling is that the majority of fans with interest in subscribing would have done so ahead of Sunday’s event (especially since the six-month commitment, if begun in March, would also cover the iconic Summerslam event).
By only securing 667,281 subscribers in time for the show, the WWE Network casts legitimate doubt about whether it will hit its target of one million subscribers by year’s end. If the promise of WrestleMania and Summerslam could not drive hundreds of thousands of presumed fans to commit to the network, what future network offering will be able to do the trick?
And for those bullish investors who believed WWE could do more than one million subscribers this year, the 667,281 figure provides an even colder reality.