With World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) scheduled to launch the WWE Network on April 1st, 2012 on the same date as the WWE WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view event, which will see John Cena take on The Rock in the main event, many professional wrestling fans have been looking for more information regarding the launch of the network.
In an update on the situation, a report from Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline notes that the 2012 budget for payroll of the WWE Network is estimated to be in the region of $20 million for Year 1 and $25 million for Year 2 and Year 3 with production facilities and technical equipment costing the company another $18 million per year along with an estimated $13 million going towards satellite uplinking, put the company’s payout at anything from $60 million to $90 million.
Most of the WWE Network’s income will be based on carriage fees, largely dependent on how much the company charge cable operators to carry the WWE Network and given the amount of money that the WWE are willing to make available to make sure that the WWE Network is a success, various others are already stating that the WWE Network will fall the way of the XFL and that this will be Vince McMahon’s next flop, however what many fail to realise is that the WWE Network has been part of WWE’s planning since RAW’s contract expiring with Spike TV back in 2005.
McMahon is said to have been vocal in recent months about getting all shows up and running successfully, stating that the company can’t risk not being on American television in one format or another.