WWE: India - An emerging market

About a year ago, I had written an article about UFC coming to India. Lorenzo Fertitta, the CEO of UFC, announced to the world that they were interested in targeting the Indian fan base, a path that has been untrodden, and UFC’s attempt to utilize these virgin grounds excited all the MMA fans in the country, including yours truly. Although nothing has stirred the pot since then, it was a step in the right direction.

UFC’s biggest competition, and the biggest global entertainment company, the WWE, has, in hindsight, missed their biggest plot by not targeting the fans of the second most populated country in the world. India, with over 1.2 billion people, can be a huge market for any organisation, whether it is sports, entertainment, reality TV, etcetera. Although WWE has always thought about catering to the Indian market, they haven’t been able to pull the trigger on that; at least not yet.

I remember reading about Bret Hart’s visit to India when I was just 6 years old. Like most of the 90s kids, I was a huge fan of the then WWF, and Bret Hart’s visit to the country not only captured the imagination of the fans, but it also sent a message about WWF/E’s scouting of India as a possible market for revenues and maybe someday, live events. Although traditionally, countries like Canada, United Kingdom, Japan and Australia have been more favorable for the WWE, it is puzzling that WWE never tried to truly capitalize on their presence in India. Although superstars such as Kane, John Cena, Batista and Rob Van Dam have visited the country before, it is equally baffling and perplexing that nothing was ever done about their promotional tours in the country.

This week, it is Ryback’s turn to visit India for a promotional tour. Although Ryback isn’t the biggest star in the WWE by any means, this once again reflects WWE’s interest in expanding their presence in the country. It is also interesting to note that the news of this visit hasn’t quite intrigued the fans, and with Ryback being in the country for only a couple of days before returning to the WWE to continue his storyline with Heyman and Punk, one can’t see anything major coming out of his visit.

The only time WWE actually struck gold was when they made The Great Khali the World Heavyweight champion. It can also be said that WWE couldn’t have predicted the amount of interest it generated among the Indian media and the fans, and they enjoyed considerable amount of coverage and exposure. The fervent support Khali received once again reinforced the notion that India, if all the cards are played right, can be one of WWE’s biggest markets.

Also, I found an interesting statistic about Bret Hart’s and WWF’s visit to India back in 1996. They traveled four cities, and they performed a live event in Bangalore (How I envy not being there when I was 6), and it apparently dragged 30, 000 fans (You read that right) for one event! That is about 10 times more than a Smackdown! taping garners in North America. There is no doubt that India possesses the biggest untapped market, and although promotions like TNA tried to stamp their presence in the Indian market, they aren’t nearly as big or boast as much presence as the WWE does. So this brings out the big question: Why hasn’t WWE done anything to tap the Indian market? The even bigger question is, will they try doing that at least now?

Although the answers to those aren’t so simple (There are many factors which might hinder the possibility of WWE doing live events regularly), there is no doubt in my mind that WWE will be sending many more superstars to India in the near future. Considering the ever increasing amount of professional wrestling and WWE fans in India, I can’t imagine why Paul Levesque (Or Triple H) will not try to expand the WWE’s presence in India.

With Paul trying to recruit people from all over the world, it is only a matter of time before WWE comes up with an idea of perhaps opening a performance center in India itself! That surely won’t be a bad idea, as it will attract many fans from the country. Also, with WWE trying harder than ever to tap the potential market, WWE may frequent their visit to India, and instead of waiting for over a decade, we might get to see the superstars live on a regular basis. As WWE fans, that is all we can hope for.