Business of Wrestling: Why RAW May Really Be Moving to a 3-Hour Format

Monday Night Raw is set to move to a three-hour format starting on July 23, and while some are optimistic about the switch, most are fearful of what effect it will have on the WWE.

I’ve already written an article debating the pros and cons of the decision, so I’m not got going to do that in detail here.

Instead, I’m going to take a look at the real reason that the WWE might be adding an extra hour to Raw each week.

Forget more time for matches. Forget better buildup for feuds. Forget more opportunities for young stars to get on TV.

The WWE is likely extending Raw for one reason, a reason that is at the core of every business decision Vince McMahon makes: money.

While we’d like to think that Vince is giving us another hour of Raw each week to improve the WWE product, it looks like the actual motive behind this decision is actually to increase profit.

From the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via SEScoops.com):

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The USA Network has been pushing WWE to expand RAW to 3 hours for years, but WWE has always rejected the idea. USA currently pays WWE about $700,000 a week for RAW. Even an increase of $100,000 of weekly TV rights fees would mean $5.2 million in new revenue for WWE.

"

Vince and the WWE get a whopping $700,000 per week for a two-hour show.

The Wrestling Observer notes that the company could make $100,000 more per week and $5.2 million more per year with Raw’s expansion to three hours.

Realistically, when you realize that the WWE is essentially currently making $350,000 per hour off Raw, you have to think that adding a third hour will result in an even bigger increase in profit.

This may not mean as much as an extra $350,000 each week, but $100,000 is probably not all that accurate. An increase of at least $200,000 per week seems more likely.

Of course, producing an extra hour of TV each week is likely going to result in the WWE shelling out more money for increased production costs, paying talent (more stars will likely be on Raw each week) and so on and so forth.

But even in that scenario, Vince and the WWE will still come out on top every week.

Thus, you have to wonder what Raw’s expansion to three hours is really about. Is it about money or improving the WWE product?

While the optimistic side of me likes to think that the extra hour of Raw could and will help the WWE deliver us a better product on a more consistent basis, the pessimistic side of me sees the WWE for what it is: a business.

A business would not be a business without turning a profit, and Vince would not be the multimillionaire that he is without knowing how to do that.

Although I truly believe that he cares about the WWE product and the fans, I also know that he’s going to try to make as much money as he possibly can.

That’s what any smart businessman would do, and Vince is most certainly a smart businessman.

But just because there are obvious possible advantages to a three-hour Raw show, don’t think that the WWE is doing this for us. It’s not—it’s doing this for the financial benefit of the company.

Who knows, Raw might improve with a three-hour format, but the No. 1 motive behind this move isn’t better storylines and feuds.

It’s what is at the core of all big business: big bucks.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.