AEW Could Be Pro Wrestling's Moneyball Promotion, How "All In" Fared On PPV
As detailed in the 2003 book Moneyball, Billy Beane's successful use of statistics, analysis, and evidence-based strategy at the helm of the Oakland Athletics is examined.
Professional wrestling, just like many other forms of entertainment, is catching up on the use of analytics for better performance. However, a key word is catching up. The WWE may now use data analytics and 1,000 potential variables to identify consumer interests, but it was never baked into the system from the start. One would often read or hear interviews regarding a change in direction based upon a whim by Vince McMahon.
All Elite Wrestling may be the first major wrestling promotion driven by data and analytics at its core from its inception. We have two major pieces of evidence already that point us in that direction. The first is driven at the top, Tony Khan, President of AEW, serves several leadership roles, many of which having to do with analytics, for example he is the Senior Vice President of Football Technology and Analytics for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Secondly, and perhaps more telling is one of the first non-wrestler hirings by AEW. Christopher Harrington is the Vice President of Business Strategy. Chris has demonstrated a deep passion for analytics and stats through co-hosting the Wrestlenomics podcast and several writings on the subject matter.
So, what does this all mean? Everything that involves AEW will be up for analysis: Google trends, social media follows, fan engagement, etc. Interestingly, the company has built a tremendous buzz but there aren't yet so many numbers publicly available to analyze. Harrington gave the example on Wrestlenomics of looking into what/where do tweets from the Young Bucks trend.
Per data from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the following are some interesting numbers to keep in mind:
* All In Pay-Per-View (and streaming) 50,000-55,000. The event did approximately 20,000-25,000 on FITE TV, which would mean it garnered around 30,000 traditional PPV buys. This excludes New Japan World and ROH HonorClub.
* WGN All In Prelims: 196,000 viewers
* AEW Jacksonville Rally viewers on YouTube: 499,000
* AEW Jacksonville Rally attendees: 1,000+
All In is a natural point for analysis but it wasn't All Elite Wrestling. Will 11,263 be replicated (or even exceeded) in Las Vegas? Time will tell.
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