Post by Pennyroyal_Tea (admin) on Oct 27, 2004 22:35:16 GMT -5
The following is from TheJournalNews.com:
STAMFORD, Conn. -- Linda McMahon didn't become a pediatrician caring for sick children, even though it was a girlhood dream.
Neither did she follow through on a later goal to be a school teacher.
A job after college, working as a paralegal at a Washington law firm, didn't last long either.
Thinking back with a laugh, the 56-year-old McMahon never dreamed that her eventual career path nearly 25 years ago would turn her into an occasional star on TV wrestling shows who is stopped by adoring fans in airports across the country. Or that she and her husband, Vince, would one day be running a $375 million entertainment empire built around Undertaker, Hurricane and other beefy wrestlers who slam each other in far-flung rings from Wichita to Milwaukee to Madison Square Garden.
Typical events staged by her company, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., bombard thousands of cheering fans at ringside with flashing spotlights, ear-pounding music, scantily dressed women and story plots worthy of a soap opera.
WWE also is known for bizarre publicity stunts. In March, for example, baseball hit king but Cooperstown reject Pete Rose landed admission into the WWE Hall of Fame because of his wrestling exploits.
"If you go to our live events and look at our audience, there are young people there and old people
there," said Linda McMahon, the chief executive officer of WWE, based in Stamford, Conn. "Folks come up to us and say 'I have been a fan since I was a kid and now I'm bringing my kids.' I think the appeal is broad-based because it is action. But there is really a little something for everyone."
Numbers tell the WWE story — 350 live shows this year, 240 television stations broadcasting events, entertainment seen in 130 countries that is translated into 13 languages.
One recent sign of wrestling's cult-like following is one of WWE's big showcases, WrestleMania 21, scheduled for April 3 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 15,000 tickets for the event sold out in less than a minute when they went on sale Sept. 25 at prices ranging from $40 to $750.
"This is a product that has been part of television since television began," McMahon said. "It is part of Americana. It is part of our indigenous pop culture. As long as we are able to keep a pulse on the appetite of the American, or the global consumer, to produce a quality product that they can escape in ... we will continue to enjoy success."
For Linda McMahon, admission into America's First Family of wrestling started in college when she married Vince. He was the grandson of a boxing promoter in the 1950s and son of a wrestling company owner in the 1960s and 1970s.
It was under Vince McMahon, who bought his father's company in 1982 and steadily expanded it through creative marketing, that pro wrestling grew into the blockbuster entertainment product that it is today. Vince McMahon was not available for an interview.
Company revenues have exploded to $375 million from about $4 million since 1980.
"If you want to crystallize it down, he understands his customers and what they want," said James Clement, an analyst at Sidoti & Co. in New York. "They often reflect the sociological and political climate of the time. Go back to the 1980s with Reagan in the White House, and you have (wrestler) Hulk Hogan waving around an American flag and fighting for what's good in the world ... against a guy by the name of Iron Sheik, allegedly from Iran."
In her years at WWE, Linda McMahon has done everything from developing radio promotional spots to writing magazine copy. These days she is the company's public voice to Wall Street analysts and the behind-the-scenes executive handling much of the day-to-day management.
Occasionally, she becomes entertainer, appearing in WWE shows with Vince and their two children, also active at the company.
"I'm really not a very good actor, but it is fun to be involved with them (on TV), even when the storylines are calling for antagonism between us," she said.
Her children are the fourth generation of the McMahon family in the wrestling business.
"They in no way were coerced to come into the company," Linda McMahon said. "As a matter of fact, we encouraged them to do whatever they wanted in life. This is something that is in their blood to do."
Falling attendance at live matches and lower television ratings hurt WWE for several years. The decline happened after reality TV shows attracted some of WWE's audience, and big-name wrestlers such as The Rock focused on movies.
Other setbacks included the XFL, a football league developed with NBC that lasted only one season; a British court ruling that the company's old name (WWF for World Wrestling Federation) was owned by the World Wildlife Fund; a stock that is down 48 percent since a 1999 initial public offering; a sexual harassment lawsuit by a female wrestler ultimately decided in WWE's favor; and a wrestling restaurant in Times Square that folded after spilling red ink.
"The restaurant business is a whole different type of ballgame," Linda McMahon said. "We didn't make it enough of an event business there, and we got hit hard with 9/11."
Dennis McAlpine, a media analyst in Scarsdale, said WWE's biggest challenge is developing new stars to replace the favorites who left for other things.
"It basically comes down to having characters that people want to pay money to see," McAlpine said.
An average of 3,800 people attended live WWE events in North America during the quarter ending July 30, down from 4,700 a year earlier.
"(Attendance) is not where we want it to be," Linda McMahon said. "The good news is that we make money even when it's down at the levels it is now."
Other ventures are doing better. Home video revenues were $5.7 million in the most recent quarter, up from $2.5 million a year earlier. Pay-per-view revenues were $16.9 million, up from $13.8 million. With 75,000 plus hours in its video library, WWE is introducing a video-on-demand service. Other opportunities include cartoons, movies, video games and toys.
Foreign markets have grown from 5 percent of WWE's revenues to 20 percent in five years.
"There clearly is a greater focus on the international marketplace to really grow that business with the same formula that has been so successful for us in this country," Linda McMahon said.
STAMFORD, Conn. -- Linda McMahon didn't become a pediatrician caring for sick children, even though it was a girlhood dream.
Neither did she follow through on a later goal to be a school teacher.
A job after college, working as a paralegal at a Washington law firm, didn't last long either.
Thinking back with a laugh, the 56-year-old McMahon never dreamed that her eventual career path nearly 25 years ago would turn her into an occasional star on TV wrestling shows who is stopped by adoring fans in airports across the country. Or that she and her husband, Vince, would one day be running a $375 million entertainment empire built around Undertaker, Hurricane and other beefy wrestlers who slam each other in far-flung rings from Wichita to Milwaukee to Madison Square Garden.
Typical events staged by her company, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., bombard thousands of cheering fans at ringside with flashing spotlights, ear-pounding music, scantily dressed women and story plots worthy of a soap opera.
WWE also is known for bizarre publicity stunts. In March, for example, baseball hit king but Cooperstown reject Pete Rose landed admission into the WWE Hall of Fame because of his wrestling exploits.
"If you go to our live events and look at our audience, there are young people there and old people
there," said Linda McMahon, the chief executive officer of WWE, based in Stamford, Conn. "Folks come up to us and say 'I have been a fan since I was a kid and now I'm bringing my kids.' I think the appeal is broad-based because it is action. But there is really a little something for everyone."
Numbers tell the WWE story — 350 live shows this year, 240 television stations broadcasting events, entertainment seen in 130 countries that is translated into 13 languages.
One recent sign of wrestling's cult-like following is one of WWE's big showcases, WrestleMania 21, scheduled for April 3 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 15,000 tickets for the event sold out in less than a minute when they went on sale Sept. 25 at prices ranging from $40 to $750.
"This is a product that has been part of television since television began," McMahon said. "It is part of Americana. It is part of our indigenous pop culture. As long as we are able to keep a pulse on the appetite of the American, or the global consumer, to produce a quality product that they can escape in ... we will continue to enjoy success."
For Linda McMahon, admission into America's First Family of wrestling started in college when she married Vince. He was the grandson of a boxing promoter in the 1950s and son of a wrestling company owner in the 1960s and 1970s.
It was under Vince McMahon, who bought his father's company in 1982 and steadily expanded it through creative marketing, that pro wrestling grew into the blockbuster entertainment product that it is today. Vince McMahon was not available for an interview.
Company revenues have exploded to $375 million from about $4 million since 1980.
"If you want to crystallize it down, he understands his customers and what they want," said James Clement, an analyst at Sidoti & Co. in New York. "They often reflect the sociological and political climate of the time. Go back to the 1980s with Reagan in the White House, and you have (wrestler) Hulk Hogan waving around an American flag and fighting for what's good in the world ... against a guy by the name of Iron Sheik, allegedly from Iran."
In her years at WWE, Linda McMahon has done everything from developing radio promotional spots to writing magazine copy. These days she is the company's public voice to Wall Street analysts and the behind-the-scenes executive handling much of the day-to-day management.
Occasionally, she becomes entertainer, appearing in WWE shows with Vince and their two children, also active at the company.
"I'm really not a very good actor, but it is fun to be involved with them (on TV), even when the storylines are calling for antagonism between us," she said.
Her children are the fourth generation of the McMahon family in the wrestling business.
"They in no way were coerced to come into the company," Linda McMahon said. "As a matter of fact, we encouraged them to do whatever they wanted in life. This is something that is in their blood to do."
Falling attendance at live matches and lower television ratings hurt WWE for several years. The decline happened after reality TV shows attracted some of WWE's audience, and big-name wrestlers such as The Rock focused on movies.
Other setbacks included the XFL, a football league developed with NBC that lasted only one season; a British court ruling that the company's old name (WWF for World Wrestling Federation) was owned by the World Wildlife Fund; a stock that is down 48 percent since a 1999 initial public offering; a sexual harassment lawsuit by a female wrestler ultimately decided in WWE's favor; and a wrestling restaurant in Times Square that folded after spilling red ink.
"The restaurant business is a whole different type of ballgame," Linda McMahon said. "We didn't make it enough of an event business there, and we got hit hard with 9/11."
Dennis McAlpine, a media analyst in Scarsdale, said WWE's biggest challenge is developing new stars to replace the favorites who left for other things.
"It basically comes down to having characters that people want to pay money to see," McAlpine said.
An average of 3,800 people attended live WWE events in North America during the quarter ending July 30, down from 4,700 a year earlier.
"(Attendance) is not where we want it to be," Linda McMahon said. "The good news is that we make money even when it's down at the levels it is now."
Other ventures are doing better. Home video revenues were $5.7 million in the most recent quarter, up from $2.5 million a year earlier. Pay-per-view revenues were $16.9 million, up from $13.8 million. With 75,000 plus hours in its video library, WWE is introducing a video-on-demand service. Other opportunities include cartoons, movies, video games and toys.
Foreign markets have grown from 5 percent of WWE's revenues to 20 percent in five years.
"There clearly is a greater focus on the international marketplace to really grow that business with the same formula that has been so successful for us in this country," Linda McMahon said.