WWE inflates WM23 attendance in 8-K report

[Bix]

http://ir.shareholder.com/wwe/EdgarDetail....5&SID=07-00

 

Revenue related to our pay-per-view events increased by approximately $3.1 million, reflecting the success of our WrestleMania 23 event which was attended by more than 80,000 fans and generated $5.4 million in ticket sales.

http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/...f/mania.html#23 (Numbers via the WON)

 

WrestleMania 23

"All Grown Up"

April 1, 2007 in Detroit, MI

Ford Field drawing 74,687 ($5,380,000)

Has WWE misstepped by lying in the report? Or does it not really matter since the dollar amount is correct?

[Guest CompletePlayer]

I don't see anything that would rise a red flag here. There isn't even a 10% difference between what they claimed (I just take the assumption that it is 80,000, even though they say more) and what the actual attendance number was. If WWE claimed 80,000 and the actual attendance 60,000 or less, then there could be something that leads stockholders to think they are being mislead. 74,687 to 80,000 is too small of a difference for anyone to care, especially with the revenue made off the gate being accurate.

[Jingus]

Besides, inventing 5000 fans is nothing compared to the numerical shenanigans they pulled the last time they ran Wrestlemania in Detroit.

[Marty]

Didn't Meltzer report that the attendance was roughly 68,500 paid?

[Bix]

Didn't Meltzer report that the attendance was roughly 68,500 paid?

Yes, they said "in attendance."

[Guest *FH*]

I get the feeling that they're OK as long as they don't lie about the actual dollar amount. I love McMahon and his people even more now, knowing that they kayfabe their shareholders.

[Jingus]

Oh, they've been doing that since the company first went public. During the quarterly conference calls, it's become standard practice to try and screen out any "smart mark" types who actually have an idea of what's going on behind the scenes.

[Guest *FH*]

Oh, they've been doing that since the company first went public. During the quarterly conference calls, it's become standard practice to try and screen out any "smart mark" types who actually have an idea of what's going on behind the scenes.

Well that's okay. Shareholder conference calls aren't the place for some guy who bought one share to call all irate like "DURR WHY R U PUSHING CENA TEH F-U SUXXX"

[Loss]

Those numbers from the recent conference call make a very strong case for Cena. House show attendance up nearly 20% from this quarter last year and the most successful Wrestlemania of all time. Merchandise is averaging over $12 a head right now, which is an awesome number. I think PPV buys would be up also if there weren't so many of them.

[sek69]

Say what you will about Cena in the ring, but the man can sell some fucking merch. Last show I went to (when Edge won the World title from Taker) it seemed every kid there had a Cena shirt on, or toy spinner belt, or that pendant thing.

 

All the T shirt stands were like 75% Cena, 20% DX, and 5% everyone else.

[Loss]

When Matt and Jeff were teaming, did they put out any new shirts or anything? If so, that could also have been part of the upswing. Don't underestimate how much money the Hardys make for the company.

[Guest *FH*]

When Matt and Jeff were teaming, did they put out any new shirts or anything?

I'm pretty sure this shirt is new.

[Guest Spunk]

I completely missed this topic first time around, but no, it is in no way breaking any sort of SEC law by inflating non-material items. They could have claimed 3 billion people were in that arena and it would have been fine. Just like a company can say they moved x-amount of product for x-amount of dollars. As long as the dollars are fine, the SEC could give 2 shits about the rest.

 

It might make them look like crummy liars, but no red flags would be raised by that.

[sek69]

I'm not a finance wizard, but wouldn't it raise red flags in the sense of a publicly traded company inflating numbers used to calculate income? I mean, attendance X ticket price = total gate. SEC types would pay attention to that, right? Most people in wrestling know attendance numbers are exaggerated, but is Joe Stockbuyer supposed to know that? Wouldn't it be theoretically possible for someone who owns stock to make the claim they bought it on false pretenses if they found out that most (if not all) shows have exaggerated attendance totals?

 

Yes, it's not breaking laws, but it's not quite how a traded company is expected to behave.

[Jingus]

It's only illegal when it can directly hurt the stockbrokers, i.e. Enron.

 

I mean, attendance X ticket price = total gate.

Except that doesn't take into account the different levels of ticket prices, comped freebies, and many other variables. Like they said, the dollar amount is the only thing that anyone cares about being accurate.

[Loss]

I'm sure they also count the wrestlers, crew and security as part of the total attendance number.

[Guest Spunk]

Well quite honestly, the only shit that matters to anybody is the stuff in the financial tables. It is never about how many of something you move, as it is how much the value is of what you move.

 

Also, after you've read a few earnings reports from public companies, you'll note how they do some really fucking funny rounding. If it can be rounded up, it'll be rounded up. If it could be rounded down, it'll be rounded up. Very rarely will you see somebody say "we reported 4.42 million in growth" as opposed to "we reported 4.5 million in growth."