WWE Night of Champions 2011: Would a "Free PPV" Do More Harm Than Good?

Last night, I’m assuming many of you forked out around $45 for the privilege of seeing "Night of Champions" live when it aired. In fact, Americans have to pay this amount every time a WWE PPV is aired.

That is a lot of money considering there are usually 13-14 PPV events per year. After spending $45 on last night’s extravaganza, many will be unwilling to do the same in two weeks time for "Hell in a Cell."

We are incredibly lucky here in England. As long as we subscribe to Sky and get the Sky Sports package, we can get around seven PPVs per year for free. "Night of Champions" did not cost me any extra last night, despite being a PPV. It was free in a sense, if we forget about the subscription fees to Sky.

"Hell in a Cell" is the next PPV that we here in the UK will have to pay for, but even then it will only be £15, which is around $25. This is $20 less than what Americans have to pay to watch these three-hour shows.

WWE "Vengeance" follows on October 23 and will again be free for those who have Sky.

It is no secret that WWE buy-rates and ratings are falling faster than a lead balloon; I think the high price for the pay-per-views is one of the reasons why.

If one of the normal American networks paid for the privilege of airing these special shows every so often, would more people tune in? I’m more inclined to say yes. Why would you watch an illegal live stream when it is free on the normal channels? You wouldn’t.

I am not at all surprised that people stream these pay-per-views if they have to pay $45 every month. If WWE had only seven PPV events that had to be paid for each year, then at least it would cut the amount Americans have to pay by half.

But would making a pay-per-view free do more harm than good?

The buy-rates would certainly be higher, but if they were only for half of the pay-per-views per year, would WWE make more money by allowing some PPV events to air for free? Possibly not, they may just break even, but I can’t see them making more money using this method.

The only way they can make more money at the moment is by making the product better, which is why "SummerSlam" had a record attendance this year. 

I can’t see WWE making any PPV free to watch in America for a long time, unless things really get bad. Along with merchandising and advertising it is a big source of income for the worldwide promotion; to make half of them free for a year would seem foolish.

Maybe cutting down the number of PPV events per year—only by a few—would help the strain on the American wallet.

Until then, I’ll sit and enjoy free PPV events from the comfort of England.

What do you think? Would making a PPV or two free be a bad idea?

Thanks for reading!