Jeff Jarrett still believes in the pay-per-view model.
For the longest time, the pay-per-view model was on life support in the world of wrestling, as WWE largely abandoned the model in 2014 with the introduction of the WWE Network.
In 2019, AEW came along and began running quarterly pay-per-views, proving that the model could still be successful in the world of wrestling. Now, the company is on track to run nine pay-per-view events in 2024, the most in company history.
On the latest edition of his My World podcast, Jarrett explained why he thinks the pay-per-view model will continue to stick around, even if it comes in different shapes and sizes.
“I’m gonna say no. I really thought pay-per-views were dieing when the WWE Network came online. Okay, we’re moving away from that. Lone behold, AEW comes in, does 100,000 buys. When you kind of look back, okay, Netflix, they came out, oh no no no, we’re never going to have advertisements, it’s going to be ad free. Well, the almighty dollar definitely changed that. I read in synopsis today just how much money that tier is making, the ad tier, it’s crazy. When you look back, cable television, oh man, nobody’s gonna pay for cable. Well, wait a minute, okay. Cable rolled along and at one time there were 110 million people in this country that were paying a cable bill. Now okay, that’s kind of dying off and the cord cutters and now we’ve got streaming online and Netflix is the only one and now there’s going to be bundled and this and that and I think you’re right, there’s gonna be a consolidation and there’s going to be three or four or five, somebody’s gonna figure out how to get their sea legs but when that comes along, there’s going to be an event that people are going to say, ‘You know what, we’ve got to make this available to make the most money.’ So you can buy it on this streamer, but that streamer is going to say, ‘If you don’t have us, we’re gonna cut a deal and this is pay-per-view only.’ I just think if you supply and demand — if you build it, they will come with the right — invite them into the story, get the hook. Create the fear, the fear of missing out, you got to be here, the people are going to buy. So no, I don’t think pay-per-view will ever go. It can come in different shapes and forms and all of that, but I don’t think it’s ever going completely away.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jarrett talked about a possible heel run for Rey Mysterio. Check out his full comments by clicking here.
If you missed anything from the November 20 edition of AEW Dynamite, catch up on the show by clicking here.
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