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| Keep pirating, and this goes away Photo Credit: Snap Daddy |
Real talk: If the 400+ people that pirated #QueenAndKing had all ordered the iPPV on Saturday, we'd be able to run another live event next month instead of having to wait until August. Please be cognizant of changes in media consumption and how it has affected the wrestling industry. We certainly are and we’re working with the latest trends rather than fighting against them. In fact, we’re putting the finishing touches on a plan which is designed to provide an even bigger audience with an unbeatable value. If you have purchased any live event tickets or DVDs/VODs/MP4s/iPPVs over the last year we greatly appreciate your continued support!I don't know where Drew Cordeiro got the 400+ number, but I tend to believe it. People will find a way to watch stuff for free if they can no matter what the price point is. Save your money for a rainy day, or for something that can't be stolen as easily, right, guys?
Pirating wrestling has gotten under the goats of many a promoter, and I'd say it's a fairly widespread practice. I have never pirated a wrestling show, and I probably never would. Even WWE, a company that doesn't need my money, gets said cash because I believe that if you put out a product worth buying, people should buy it. But the indies, that to me feels the lowest of the low to steal from. These guys have to deal with huge margins to begin with, and making a profit can sometimes feel like a Sisyphean task. People watching their premium content for free gives the pirate the benefit of enjoying the show without giving the producers means to keep doing it.
See, wrestling is a mutually symbiotic relationship. Promoters produce the content for you to enjoy, but they need money to keep things going. If they don't get money, what's their incentive for keeping on keeping on? If I want to see something continue on its path, I'm going to pay money for it. If you want to see the same, that's your encouragement. I don't understand people who expect companies to give them content for free knowing the cost of running a promotion isn't exactly peanuts. Furthermore, I don't understand people who end up stealing the pay-content from a promotion like WSU that has so much free stuff on YouTube as a sampling.
I get the argument that piracy can help spread awareness for a product and get more eyes on it. I think that's maybe not the most valid justification for stealing something well-known, but it's a positive unexpected outcome. It falls flat when you get down to the nitty-gritty though. The truth is, companies like WSU and all its colleagues, even the more solvent ones like Chikara, live and die by the individual dollar more than most other forms of entertainment. Stealing from them is the ultimate slap in the face of the art of wrestling because it kills places where that art is formed and molded the most.
I don't need to do the "stealing is wrong" spiel, because it's pounded into everyone's heads from a young age, and honestly, if you have to be told it's wrong now, either you're part of a preached-to choir, or you're going to ignore it anyway. However, no matter what else you pirate, at least plunk down your cash for the indie shows. They have no margin for error. They have to make money or else boom, there's no more independent wrestling, no more of a place that acts as a true alternative to the corporate machines in Stamford and Nashville. Don't be a selfish jerk all your life.