MLW Fusion

[famicommander]

DDT is big but it will never be mainstream in the way that Dragon Gate can. It's too abstract. That's why they're running NOAH separately instead of just doing a merger.

[kovs27]

MLW just traded up as far as Japanese partner promotions.

They had been working with Pro Wrestling NOAH (which, in unrelated news, just got bought by DDT's parent company), but today they announced a working agreement with Dragon Gate.

Dragon Gate is the solid #2 in the Japanese pro wrestling scene, so this is about the best available partner for them.

The best part of the announcement was it was done while CIMA was being taken out of the ring in a body bag.

[Lynx]

I think that "DDT is #2 in Tokyo" is DDT fans "propaganda". There has been chart floating around about ticket sales in 2019 and DDT was #4 behind NJPW, DG and AJPW.

[ICHIFUJI]

DDT is #2 in Tokyo is fair if it based on how often Ryogoku Sumo Arena used in 2019.

[famicommander]

PWI reporting that MLW has had talks with Amazon and other outlets, and that wrestling is seen as a good hedge against a potential writer's guild strike.

[Montana]

Over the last 6 months or so... i started watching MLW from the start of episode one, and i really enjoy the promotion. They really do a good job of making it all work. Great matches, storylines that move forward, good feuds, building new characters.

I'm finally getting to the more recent episodes... and i was fearful MLW wouldn't be able to uphold the core of their roster, but seems like they've done a really good job. It's a shame to see whats going on in the world, as i'm sure it hurts a promotion like MLW. I can't imagine they make that much money, as they don't run that many shows. But long story short, i'm impressed with their roster and the direction they are headed from a product standpoint. HOPEFULLY the financials and TV deal and/or distribution are up there too.

Would love to support MLW more, but they don't travel a ton, don't have much merch other than T-shirts... Hopefully they can continue to grow.

[famicommander]

MLW secured TV deals in Poland and several countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

They are now on television in over 20 countries.

[kovs27]

Since MLW has run out of new content like a lot other wrestling companies have, they have started a series called MLW Anthology. Similar to what ROH is doing they focus an episode on a particular wrestler. What I like about it is they use old footage from the first years of MLW that I never got to see. The first episode featured LA Park and had two older matches, one being against Sabu that was really fun to see. The 3rd episode is going to feature Low Ki. It looks like that episode will have some older footage as well.

[dhads7161]

I really enjoy MLW's product.

[kovs27]

I really liked the last two Anthology episodes. I'm a sucker for when they show content from the first run. Low Ki vs. Homicide was a fun watch and leads to the what if situation of Gary Hart managing Homicide and Low Ki.

Satoshi Kojima was the latest episode. The match with Jerry Lynn was fine but I really liked the match with Jonny Smith. I think the atmosphere of being in Japan in an All Japan ring was far better than any of the MLW shows from that time period.

Next week is the Lucha Brothers.

[cgstong]

Be sure to check out our latest article about Alicia Atout joining the MLW team, she liked it so you might also

https://www.pwponderings.com/2020/09/30 ... t-manager/

[Shanahan]

I'm interested in what MLW looks like during the re-start. A few top guys want out so i wonder what new guys they will begin to push.

[cgstong]

The restart looks like it will also include the Opera Cup.

MLW has some solid contracts too though and they are always expanding. I'll def try to see what I can get on talents and who is coming to MLW

[NewROHFan2020]

MLW secured TV deals in Poland and several countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

They are now on television in over 20 countries.

I have a question for you and please only answer the question after the statement I am about to make.

I realized that MLW Fusion is premiered on Wednesday nights on YouTube and FuboSports. The same episode is aired three days later on BeIn.

Question 1: If someone is a big MLW fan or regular viewer of their product, fair to say, most (really large %) would watch it for free on YouTube before Saturday’s airing on BeIn?

[famicommander]

MLW secured TV deals in Poland and several countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

They are now on television in over 20 countries.

I have a question for you and please only answer the question after the statement I am about to make.

I realized that MLW Fusion is premiered on Wednesday nights on YouTube and FuboSports. The same episode is aired three days later on BeIn.

Question 1: If someone is a big MLW fan or regular viewer of their product, fair to say, most (really large %) would watch it for free on YouTube before Saturday’s airing on BeIn?

I think people who are dedicated MLW fans are going to watch it on the first airing, yes, so Youtube, DAZN, or Fubo. But the BeIn deal is important too because it still draws more people than the average BeIn show, and BeIn is still paying for it. Even when Fusion was on hiatus due to COVID, BeIn still aired MLW content in their regular timeslots. And they also air it in Spanish, which they don't on the Youtube or Fubo feeds (haven't checked whether DAZN has the Spanish episodes or not).

And there are still some people who just plain refuse to watch wrestling online. One of the most common complaints I hear about ROH is that nobody can find their product on TV, despite the fact that it's free and on demand worldwide on several platforms.

And there's the DVR convenience factor. Back when ROH was on cable TV in my market, I usually let my DVR catch it and watched it later even though I could've seen it earlier in the week on the website. Because whether on Fite, ROH's site, Youtube, or whatever I have to actively seek out the content. The DVR just does it automatically and it's waiting for me when I turn on my TV.

Bauer had said when the Fubo deal was announced that they weren't going to upload them to Youtube at all anymore due to the ridiculously low payouts, but he changed his mind when some fans blew up his Twitter about it.

Another thing you have to consider is:
When TV viewership is reported, it's the average number of people viewing throughout the broadcast for that singular airing. Take Impact for example: The Kenny Omega debut episode did 221,000 viewers on AXS. But that's, again, the average number of people who watched it live through the entire broadcast for the first airing. The number of people who watched part of it and changed it to something else, the number of people who watched the late west coast replay, the number of people who caught it on DVR the next day, etc are not included. And of those 221,000 viewers, advertisers have a pretty good breakdown of the important data: their age, their location, their gender, their race, their socioeconomic backgrounds. Thus it's easier to put their ads in front of the audience they're seeking.

On the other hand, Youtube viewership is just the number of clicks. It doesn't indicate how many people actually watched the entire broadcast, it doesn't indicate the number of people who actually saw any Youtube ads. And it includes everybody who watches it for the entire duration it's online. And, obviously, Youtube is worldwide whereas TV ratings are reported by network and by country. So even though the Omega Impact episode has a higher view count than the number of people who were reported to have watched the episode on AXS, it doesn't come close to telling the real story. Which is why they didn't upload subsequent episodes to Youtube; just the splash Omega debut hoping some of those Youtube viewers would be directed to one of the platforms where they actually make money (AXS, Twitch, international TV, Impact Plus subscription) or at least buy a PPV.

[NewROHFan2020]

MLW secured TV deals in Poland and several countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

They are now on television in over 20 countries.

I have a question for you and please only answer the question after the statement I am about to make.

I realized that MLW Fusion is premiered on Wednesday nights on YouTube and FuboSports. The same episode is aired three days later on BeIn.

Question 1: If someone is a big MLW fan or regular viewer of their product, fair to say, most (really large %) would watch it for free on YouTube before Saturday’s airing on BeIn?

I think people who are dedicated MLW fans are going to watch it on the first airing, yes, so Youtube, DAZN, or Fubo. But the BeIn deal is important too because it still draws more people than the average BeIn show, and BeIn is still paying for it. Even when Fusion was on hiatus due to COVID, BeIn still aired MLW content in their regular timeslots. And they also air it in Spanish, which they don't on the Youtube or Fubo feeds (haven't checked whether DAZN has the Spanish episodes or not).

And there are still some people who just plain refuse to watch wrestling online. One of the most common complaints I hear about ROH is that nobody can find their product on TV, despite the fact that it's free and on demand worldwide on several platforms.

And there's the DVR convenience factor. Back when ROH was on cable TV in my market, I usually let my DVR catch it and watched it later even though I could've seen it earlier in the week on the website. Because whether on Fite, ROH's site, Youtube, or whatever I have to actively seek out the content. The DVR just does it automatically and it's waiting for me when I turn on my TV.

Bauer had said when the Fubo deal was announced that they weren't going to upload them to Youtube at all anymore due to the ridiculously low payouts, but he changed his mind when some fans blew up his Twitter about it.

Another thing you have to consider is:
When TV viewership is reported, it's the average number of people viewing throughout the broadcast for that singular airing. Take Impact for example: The Kenny Omega debut episode did 221,000 viewers on AXS. But that's, again, the average number of people who watched it live through the entire broadcast for the first airing. The number of people who watched part of it and changed it to something else, the number of people who watched the late west coast replay, the number of people who caught it on DVR the next day, etc are not included. And of those 221,000 viewers, advertisers have a pretty good breakdown of the important data: their age, their location, their gender, their race, their socioeconomic backgrounds. Thus it's easier to put their ads in front of the audience they're seeking.

On the other hand, Youtube viewership is just the number of clicks. It doesn't indicate how many people actually watched the entire broadcast, it doesn't indicate the number of people who actually saw any Youtube ads. And it includes everybody who watches it for the entire duration it's online. And, obviously, Youtube is worldwide whereas TV ratings are reported by network and by country. So even though the Omega Impact episode has a higher view count than the number of people who were reported to have watched the episode on AXS, it doesn't come close to telling the real story. Which is why they didn't upload subsequent episodes to Youtube; just the splash Omega debut hoping some of those Youtube viewers would be directed to one of the platforms where they actually make money (AXS, Twitch, international TV, Impact Plus subscription) or at least buy a PPV.

That’s a very long winded answer. Next question, how much would you expect a network to pay for content that is released elsewhere, days earlier for free?

Also, what ratings do you have to backup your statement that MLW gets better ratings than “the average BeIn show”?

[famicommander]

I have a question for you and please only answer the question after the statement I am about to make.

I realized that MLW Fusion is premiered on Wednesday nights on YouTube and FuboSports. The same episode is aired three days later on BeIn.

Question 1: If someone is a big MLW fan or regular viewer of their product, fair to say, most (really large %) would watch it for free on YouTube before Saturday’s airing on BeIn?

I think people who are dedicated MLW fans are going to watch it on the first airing, yes, so Youtube, DAZN, or Fubo. But the BeIn deal is important too because it still draws more people than the average BeIn show, and BeIn is still paying for it. Even when Fusion was on hiatus due to COVID, BeIn still aired MLW content in their regular timeslots. And they also air it in Spanish, which they don't on the Youtube or Fubo feeds (haven't checked whether DAZN has the Spanish episodes or not).

And there are still some people who just plain refuse to watch wrestling online. One of the most common complaints I hear about ROH is that nobody can find their product on TV, despite the fact that it's free and on demand worldwide on several platforms.

And there's the DVR convenience factor. Back when ROH was on cable TV in my market, I usually let my DVR catch it and watched it later even though I could've seen it earlier in the week on the website. Because whether on Fite, ROH's site, Youtube, or whatever I have to actively seek out the content. The DVR just does it automatically and it's waiting for me when I turn on my TV.

Bauer had said when the Fubo deal was announced that they weren't going to upload them to Youtube at all anymore due to the ridiculously low payouts, but he changed his mind when some fans blew up his Twitter about it.

Another thing you have to consider is:
When TV viewership is reported, it's the average number of people viewing throughout the broadcast for that singular airing. Take Impact for example: The Kenny Omega debut episode did 221,000 viewers on AXS. But that's, again, the average number of people who watched it live through the entire broadcast for the first airing. The number of people who watched part of it and changed it to something else, the number of people who watched the late west coast replay, the number of people who caught it on DVR the next day, etc are not included. And of those 221,000 viewers, advertisers have a pretty good breakdown of the important data: their age, their location, their gender, their race, their socioeconomic backgrounds. Thus it's easier to put their ads in front of the audience they're seeking.

On the other hand, Youtube viewership is just the number of clicks. It doesn't indicate how many people actually watched the entire broadcast, it doesn't indicate the number of people who actually saw any Youtube ads. And it includes everybody who watches it for the entire duration it's online. And, obviously, Youtube is worldwide whereas TV ratings are reported by network and by country. So even though the Omega Impact episode has a higher view count than the number of people who were reported to have watched the episode on AXS, it doesn't come close to telling the real story. Which is why they didn't upload subsequent episodes to Youtube; just the splash Omega debut hoping some of those Youtube viewers would be directed to one of the platforms where they actually make money (AXS, Twitch, international TV, Impact Plus subscription) or at least buy a PPV.

That’s a very long winded answer. Next question, how much would you expect a network to pay for content that is released elsewhere, days earlier for free?

Also, what ratings do you have to backup your statement that MLW gets better ratings than “the average BeIn show”?

I don't know how much BeIN pays them. But:
1. They re-upped with BeIn immediately
2. They pulled the show off Youtube when the Fubo Sports deal was announced and directly stated it was because Youtube doesn't pay out enough ad revenue. They only put it back on Youtube because fans pestered Court Bauer on Twitter.

These two facts should tell you that, whatever MLW's viewership is on BeIN, it pays out more than Youtube does. Because if it didn't, they wouldn't have re-upped at BeIN in the first place. And, logically, if they replaced Youtube with Fubo due to Youtube's poor payouts, Fubo pays out more than Youtube as well.

And the DAZN deal includes PPVs and iPPVs in addition to the TV show. If they're willing to give the PPVs away for free on DAZN but not on Youtube, that should tell you the DAZN deal pays out more too.

As for MLW's viewership as compared to the BeIN average:

Represented by agents Matt Sorger, Bryan Diperstein and Will Horowitz of ICM Partners, MLW has consistently featured some of the highest-rated content on beIN Sports, which has carried the product since 2018. MLW is set to premiere its next season this fall as part of the #TheRestart initiative.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonu ... ae2631bbe0

I also saw an article on Deadline that says their viewership increased by 43% from 2018 to 2019, but no raw numbers.

ROH and Impact don't even put their shows on Youtube most of the time and they freaking own the other channels that air their shows. Because the amount of money in return isn't even worth pressing the upload button.

[NewROHFan2020]

Again, what would you pay for programming that is given away for free, 3 days before it would air on your network?

[famicommander]

Again, what would you pay for programming that is given away for free, 3 days before it would air on your network?

They pay for the program in Spanish and English. It's only free in English.

And again:
1. Youtube was insignificant enough that they dropped it entirely
2. They didn't drop BeIN. In fact, they renewed their agreement this previous October
3. They replaced Youtube directly with Fubo Sports Network because of Youtube's low payouts. Thus, Fubo must payout more than Youtube
4. DAZN has content that isn't free anywhere

Basic logic would dictate that DAZN is probably their biggest paying partner. DAZN gets the TV show and the PPVs, which nobody else gets. There would be no reason to give the PPVs away for free to DAZN subscribers unless they were getting a larger amount back from DAZN itself.

BeIN gets the TV show in English and the TV show in Spanish, which nobody else gets.

Fubo was sought out with the explicit intention of replacing Youtube, which it did.

And then there's the matter of the 20-something other countries where the show airs on television.

Why aren't these platforms lining up to cut Booker T a check for Reality of Wrestling? They've had 14 Youtube videos this year alone that beat every episode of Powerrr.

Guess what the two biggest videos on the platforms of ROH, Impact, MLW, NWA, NJPW, CMLL, Dragon Gate, NOAH, and AJPW are from the last 3 months?

Adam Cole vs Lio Rush from a Road to the Best in the World show and Hornswoggle's AJ Styles parody with over 620,000 views each.

So, obviously, Lio Rush and Hornswoggle are bigger stars than Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Ultimo Guerrero, Jay Lethal, Jay Briscoe, Rush, Dragon Lee, Eddie Edwards, or Katsuhiko Nakajima. Right?

The highest viewed videos on the Impact, ROH, and ROW channels are all women's matches or segments. So, obviously, Mandy Leon and Taeler Hendrix must be more popular than Ken Shamrock and Jay Lethal.

Or maybe, just maybe, Youtube isn't that important. Freaking Reality of Wrestling has more Youtube subscribers than CMLL.

[NewROHFan2020]

Again, what would you pay for programming that is given away for free, 3 days before it would air on your network?

They pay for the program in Spanish and English. It's only free in English.

And again:
1. Youtube was insignificant enough that they dropped it entirely
2. They didn't drop BeIN. In fact, they renewed their agreement this previous October
3. They replaced Youtube directly with Fubo Sports Network because of Youtube's low payouts. Thus, Fubo must payout more than Youtube
4. DAZN has content that isn't free anywhere

Basic logic would dictate that DAZN is probably their biggest paying partner. DAZN gets the TV show and the PPVs, which nobody else gets. There would be no reason to give the PPVs away for free to DAZN subscribers unless they were getting a larger amount back from DAZN itself.

BeIN gets the TV show in English and the TV show in Spanish, which nobody else gets.

Fubo was sought out with the explicit intention of replacing Youtube, which it did.

And then there's the matter of the 20-something other countries where the show airs on television.

Why aren't these platforms lining up to cut Booker T a check for Reality of Wrestling? They've had 14 Youtube videos this year alone that beat every episode of Powerrr.

Guess what the two biggest videos on the platforms of ROH, Impact, MLW, NWA, NJPW, CMLL, Dragon Gate, NOAH, and AJPW are from the last 3 months?

Adam Cole vs Lio Rush from a Road to the Best in the World show and Hornswoggle's AJ Styles parody with over 620,000 views each.

So, obviously, Lio Rush and Hornswoggle are bigger stars than Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Ultimo Guerrero, Jay Lethal, Jay Briscoe, Rush, Dragon Lee, Eddie Edwards, or Katsuhiko Nakajima. Right?

The highest viewed videos on the Impact, ROH, and ROW channels are all women's matches or segments. So, obviously, Mandy Leon and Taeler Hendrix must be more popular than Ken Shamrock and Jay Lethal.

Or maybe, just maybe, Youtube isn't that important. Freaking Reality of Wrestling has more Youtube subscribers than CMLL.

You’re just deflecting. I asked you a simple question, doesn’t really need to be MLW-BeIn specific