A TNA house show in Mobile, Ala., with Bully Ray vs. Samoa Joe in a cage match main event and Magnus vs. Cowboy James Storm drew a small house.
This picture sent in by a WrestlingInc.com reader shows the house. Maybe 300 if they’re lucky.
This on the heels of a live episode of TNA Genesis the night before that drew a decent showing of more than 1.3 million viewers on Spike TV, down about 5 percent from the week before, but still up more than 40 percent from the disastrous Thanksgiving Night episode that 921,000 viewers.
The turnout on this Friday night show was similar to a Friday night show in Bristol, Tenn., with Sting in the main event. That show drew an estimated 350 fans to a middle-school gym.
The economics of these shows – the cost to put on the shows, and the miniscule ticket sales – don’t add up to anything good for TNA. Even with TNA’s out-of-line ticket prices for the venues and towns that they’re working, they’re almost certainly hemorrhaging money with these house shows.
TNA is a privately owned company, so we can’t know exact figures, but the bottom line can’t be good, that’s for sure.
Column by Chris Graham
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