When TNA made the decision to cut down its live pay-per-view (PPV) schedule from some 13 events to just four -- Genesis, Lockdown, Slammiversary, and Bound for Glory -- the idea was the added time to build to those shows would increase sales.
Though the sample size is ridiculously small, that hasn't been the case so far.
More proof of that has come with the preliminary buyrate estimate on the TNA Slammiversary 2013 event that took place this past June 2 from the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts.
From the Wrestling Observer:
Preliminary estimates on Slammiversary is 13,000 buys. That's slightly more than they probably would have gotten had they been doing monthly shows with the same type of lineup. It was down from Lockdown, but Lockdown is usually the No. 2 show of the year behind Bound for Glory.
Last year's show, when the company was still running monthly PPV events, did around 14,500 buys, though it was also heavily marketed as the 10th Anniversary celebration of the promotion's existence. Still, it's not exactly an encouraging sign when the numbers aren't even close to breaking 20,000 buys for what amounts to the TNA version of SummerSlam.
The good news is next up on the schedule is Bound for Glory, the TNA version of WrestleMania. The Bound for Glory Series kicks off tonight with the Selection Show (follow the live blog here) and the build to the big show really begins.
It should be most interesting to see if the company can do better numbers than last year. Stay tuned.