No PPV For The Olympia?

[Tre]

Do a pay-per-view webcast - pure profit.

It's like printing money.

[HERACLES]

I thought the 2005 Olympia was PISS POOR anyhow..very badly managed. I felst sorry for the athletes, as they worked so hard for this day, and the TOOL promoters couldnt put a great show together.

If they dont broadcast PPV, Fawk'em, ill save $49 or whatever it is..

 

[240 is Back]

It would be crazy for the PDI to NOT do a PPV or webcast now.

Hell, half of the IFBB cronies would pay for it, just to be able to crap all over it.

LOL... I still can't believe the IFBB is cutting out the PPV... if I was a shareholder, I'd be selling fast.

[HERACLES]

It would be crazy for the PDI to NOT do a PPV or webcast now.

Hell, half of the IFBB cronies would pay for it, just to be able to crap all over it.

LOL... I still can't believe the IFBB is cutting out the PPV... if I was a shareholder, I'd be selling fast.

Didnt it make them money? I still cant figure it out. I was in LV last year, but left the day of the MRO, in the AM, when I got back to PA<, I watched it in PPV, and I was glad...Anyhow, I would still order i bc I am interested, but why on earth would they cancel PPV is beyond me.   Jay, might be a good year to pack it in and work with your investments, it may not be worth it anymore man..(after this year) The organization is taking a shit- the wheels are falling off..

[onlyme]

It would be crazy for the PDI to NOT do a PPV or webcast now.

Hell, half of the IFBB cronies would pay for it, just to be able to crap all over it.

LOL... I still can't believe the IFBB is cutting out the PPV... if I was a shareholder, I'd be selling fast.

Both the Webcast and PPV for BB is just not viable in terms of revenue.  Just to expensive to put on a quality show with less than equal returns.  Plus, the webcast as good as it sounds takes money out of the promoters pockets.  It allows potential fans who support BB to sit home and watch it anytime.  It allows them not to skip work or be with family because you can watch the show anytime.  Instaed of paying high ticket prices why not just sit home and watch it for free.  You can bet allot of people do this.  Allot of shows count on family members to show up to support their kid or parent.  But with ticket prices being high, a family could easily spend $150+ to watch the show live.  Now, they have the option of staying home and watching for free.  The competitor still knows his family is supporting him, plus saving money.  Allot of venues are union too, so fee have to be paid.  Now the webcast company like BB.com should pay any fee it cost to produce the show.  But they should also pay the promoter a guaranteed amount equal to a percentage of potential loss in ticket sales.  Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the potential ticket sales.  

PPV is worse.  The production costs are enormous.  Production costs are close to $100,000.  Have you ever seen in person what it takes to do a PPV.  This is more money out of the promoters pocket. And again the audience is not enough to cover costs and make any kind of profit.  This ain't a Tyson fight where a million people may purchase the fight.  PPV costs what $25 (lets say), the PPV gets 50% of that right off the top, plus other costs.  You come out with $10.  Production costs are around $100,000.  YOu need about 10,000 people to purchase the PPV show.  Just no money in it.  It is nice to have for the people who can't make it to the show, but it cuts into the bottom dollar for the promoter and thats what counts.

[Tre]

Keith - you're deadly accurate about the television PPV - it costs a tremendous amount to produce and you need a ridiculous number of sales just to break even.

But the webcast PPV is different.  It doesn't need to be a television production - it just needs to be a simple single-cam webcast.  You can put a premium price tag on it if you want, or you can charge a reasonable price in hopes of increasing the sales volume. 

A webcast takes *nothing* from the promoters.  People are traveling less right now thanks to the high fuel costs brought on by Bush's War.  The economy is in horrible shape, so that means there's less money available to make trips to Vegas to watch bodybuilding events with pre-determined outcomes.  The Olympia has never attracted 'families', so there's no reason to expect that would be any different this year. 

If you're a promoter for an event that's on life support, you should be looking for every revenue stream possible. 

It's not unrealistic to think you could sell 3000 $20 webcast packages.  That would be $60,000 extra in the kitty right there...and the only cost would be a person to man the main cam and then a volunteer to monitor the system for glitches. 

I know this isn't about me, but I'm a hardcore bodybuilding fan.  I will be traveling to Vegas and will visit the $10 Olympia Expo again this year, but I will not be paying $150 for a ticket to watch the show.  The events are cost-prohibitive and I just won't be able to participate until they deliver more fan-friendly pricing at these things...either that, or give me a show as entertaining as Cirque du Soleil, since that's the kind of price these promoters are charging.   

[onlyme]

Tre I think you are partly right about the Webcast.  But realistically you will need three or four cameras.  One guy running around doing everything would just be impossible.  You have to worry about lighting, sound (including a tremedous amount of background noise), shadows, batteries (I mean a battery can only last so long, you'll have to change it at some point), focus.  There are just so many varibles with a quality show.  To do a quality show you will need at least 3 cameras.  Plus, you really have to anticipate technical problems no matter what.  You need a sound guy.  No way could you charge for a show that isn't top quality.  I think when it is free people take into account there will be some problems alomg the way.  I mean you get what you pay for. 

Sure it shouldn't cost the promoter anything but the webcaster will want to get money back from somewhere.  He can sell advertising but how much will that bring in.  No one would pay more than $500 for a 30 sec. spot.  VYOtech has Hypoderm financing everything they do.  They are the real money makers in that company.  There is no way VYOtech can afford to finance all these promotions they do.  But Hypoderm is huge and has been around.

Plus, it isn't the cost to the promoter that is the problem with a webcast rather than what a webcast does to his ticket sales.  Believe me a family of four ormore would rather stay at home order some pizzas and beer and sit there routing on their kid or friend and save money by not paying for a ticket.  People like love free things.  Webcasting only benefites BB.com right now.  Like they need more money.  They can afford to pay $30,000 to $40,000 to put on a nice show they do in order to get the emails and contacts they get.  Plus, I have never seen a webcast before until this weekend but I bet most of the commercials are related to their products.  So they make out very pretty.

[MB]

Providing a television broadcast of the Olympia should be a priority for the IFBB, whether PPV or cable.  There is $50k available for a possible "audience applause" round, but no money for PPV?  They've already downgraded the venue, started charging $10 for the expo, increased the ticket prices, combined men's pre-judging with the women's finals, and now cut the PPV?  Where is all the money going?  If this is what it takes to get the athletes a 30% increase in prize money, then it's not worth it.  The fans are being squeezed harder than ever, and they are offered less and less each year. 

[xavmaster]

Think of how much money it will make if you put it on bodybuilding.com and charge a couple of dollars.
China alone has 1 billion people living there.
Not everyone lives in the US and Canada.
I live in Australia and I have no way of watching the olympia and I would be happy to pay to watch it on bodybuilding.com and so would alot of people I know.
Shawn why not do this I believe alot people would watch it and it would help bodybuilding the only way people help bodybuilding is going the hard way about it doing tiny small things to help, so why not do this.

[CQ]

Its only the US and maybe canada who get the olympia PPV.

If bb.com bring a paid webcast (even a couple of dollars) to a worldwide audience, first building up the base by offering free ones they could do very well.

I guess thats probably what they are doing.  I've seen one of the webcasts, it was fine. 

Actually, the Olympia ppvs were carried in quite a few countries....Our region always had them.

[onlyme]

Guys it's great that some of you love the PPV.  It is awesome concept for most sports and activities.  But, it costs allot of money to do these.  PPV does not get advertising revenue so they count on subscibers.  10,000 paid sunscibers to the Olympia is not enough.  And the number wasn't near that.  Unless it is profitable then it won't last long.  It is great to have it but unless it is generating money then why do it.  Now, if the IFBB really cared about BB and the fans they would actually flip the bill for every IFBB show to be either on PPV or webcast and eat the money and take it for a marketing and advertising deduction.  I think this would be awesome.  But the IFBB is notorious for being cheap cheap cheap.  So it won't happen. 

[240 is Back]

Where is all the money going? 

For the 20 or less people who benefit from cutting costs at the O, it is going into their pockets as income.  Horizon problem- they are not worried about the longterm effects on fan retention.  They are looking at THIS year's numbers, and their paycheck, THIS year. 

A smarter group would sign a longer term PPV deal to lower the costs, and take a hit, if it means retaining that hardcore audience that ALWAYS gets the PPV.  Why? Cause this same loyal group also buys FLEX, attends closer shows, etc.  But hey, they're in the milking stage.  More of these cost cutting moves will continue to become evident as the end comes nearer...

[Tre]

Another thing about webcast is that - like PPV - you can re-broadcast it for ~$0 and pocket the revenue. 

I don't know if the paying audience is that big, but what if 10,000 people bought the weekend webcast for $20 each? 

Now we're talking serious cash...with very little outlay.

What this speaks to - yet again - is the IFBB's (and associated entities') inability to take advantage of the gold mine that is the internet. 

[240 is Back]

The IFBB makes the best darn buggy whip out there.

And they'll have a whole warehouse full of them, which we'll drive past in our brand new model T's.

[Wombat]

Think of how much money it will make if you put it on bodybuilding.com and charge a couple of dollars.
China alone has 1 billion people living there.
Not everyone lives in the US and Canada.
I live in Australia and I have no way of watching the olympia and I would be happy to pay to watch it on bodybuilding.com and so would alot of people I know.
Shawn why not do this I believe alot people would watch it and it would help bodybuilding the only way people help bodybuilding is going the hard way about it doing tiny small things to help, so why not do this.

So with Chinas Billion people, i would take a guess that less then 100 would watch...