Vince McMahon: WWE more sophisticated than MMA
WWE owner Vince McMahon trying to ooze a sophistication for the fans. Bob Barker, Shaquille O’Neal, Ozzy Osbourne, Al Sharpton…
WWE owner Vince McMahon trying to ooze a sophistication for the fans.
Bob Barker, Shaquille O’Neal, Ozzy Osbourne, Al Sharpton and Cedric the Entertainer aren’t who you’d expect to see when turning on World Wrestling Entertainment programming. OK, maybe Ozzy.
All are featured guests this fall with the WWE as Vince McMahon’s machine undergoes some image polishing and stresses a family friendly approach.
“We just followed our audience and tried to listen to them,” McMahon, WWE chairman, said. “It’s a more sophisticated product. It’s just the right move business-wise, but more specifically the right move in terms of reaching our audience.”
During the peak of what the company refers to as its “attitude era” a decade ago, the WWE’s audience was dominated by young men. While its popularity has waned, the fan base has simultaneously grown older and younger with new constituencies, according to audience research. A little more than a third of its audience is female. The audience is ethnically more diverse that most shows: 62 percent of audience is white; 20 percent of the viewership is black and 23 percent is Hispanic — Hispanics were counted as both white and Hispanic. It’s the most-watched English-language show on cable among Hispanics, the company said.
With the Ultimate Fighting Championship and mixed martial arts becoming more popular as competitors, it made little sense for the WWE to ramp up the attitude with violence and sexuality, McMahon said.
“You really can’t compete with that,” he said. “Why not deliver a more sophisticated product and not go to those extremes? If the audience wants those extremes, they know where to go and how to get it.”
Going PG has helped the company draw advertisers who might have looked away before. Pepsi, 7-Eleven stores, Mattel toys and the Army National Guard are among the sponsors that have signed up since the shift, the company said.
The association with steroids also hurt. Anabolic steroids were found in the home of wrestler Chris Benoit after he killed his wife, 7-year-old son and himself in their suburban Atlanta home two years ago. McMahon toughened the WWE’s drug testing rules.
“Their public image was pretty bad,” said Dave Meltzer, publisher of the trade publication Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “They took a major hit, and said ‘we’ve got to become a kinder, nicer company.'”
Both Meltzer and Jim Varsallone, who covers professional wrestling for the Miami Herald, said they can tell the difference in the programming. The changes are subtle, though and they’re not sure the casual fans will notice.
“I do not get complaints from fans,” Varsallone said.
It may not be a coincidence that Vince’s wife, Linda McMahon, has just stepped down as WWE CEO to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. Her husband said the changes at the WWE were in motion long before he knew she was interested in a political career.