Contract Buyouts and Production Values and Network Time

[vunsev]

[B]Contract Buyout[/B] You should be able to buy out a wrestlers contract by putting a bid forward which is worth more then (wage a month x amount of time left on contract). For example if Rob Van Dam is on £20,000 for a 3 Year Contract you would have to offer £20,000 x 36 months = £720,000. Although this may seem high if you really want someone that much you will pay it. Also the amount of time left on the contract would be vary the result. This would help promotions by giving them money when there workers are taken away from them, so even if you have lost your best main eventer you will have some money to tide you over until you can push the next main eventer, this would be especially helpful smaller promotions. Also being able to negoiate a release fee for a worker you don't want to have on your roster for whatever reason. [B]Production Values[/B] I remember that in EWR you could improve your production values which would in return improve your show ratings. This would also be useful for "ratings battles" with other promotions, if the audience see your promotion with a higher production value they are more likely to watch your show then a show with lower production values. [B]Network Time[/B] I think this may have beem mentioned before but, the ability to buy time on TV networks. This would help to improve your popularity in regions/areas where you will not be offered a slot.

[rajde]

I don't agree with your first two suggestions since Contract Buyouts are basically just contract terminations already. Plus Production Values is too much micromanagement plus this game is suppose to be about booking not how much money you put into production value. However, saying that buy tv slots does make sense since there is a history of it happening. For example, Cornette buying a tv slot from WWE and TNA even did it a few years ago I believe with Fox Sports Net. The only arguement against it I think is that in a way the current tv system would have to be reworked. For one TV slots aren't that hard to get all you have to do is get to regional. Essentially, you would have to make it harder to get tv shows especially national ones to get this idea in.

[Comradebot]

I don't think you read his first suggestion correctly. I think he means something like stealing a worker who's under a written deal before his contract comes up. So if you really want, say, Big Smack Scott, but SWF has him for two more years, you could offer to pay an insane amount of money to buy his contract for yourself. The second half, about terminating contracts, is already in the game. About the second part... you can already effect some of the production values. Well, the music, merchandise, and DVDs. I think that's enough for now. And its true, its already easy to get TV time. A buying time option doesn't seem really all that helpful.

[theaddicane]

Does anyone ever buy out contracts in real life, outside of when picking up workers after the collapse of a company a la WCW? I can't really think when this happens. Saying that, I think that idea could be the base of a good feature.

[nick1091]

Not really a fan of the buyout feature. For one, theaddicane is right that it doesn't happen in real life, and aside from that, if during the Monday Night Wars, WCW offered WWE as much as 5 times the money he was making to buy Stone Cold out of his contract? Unlikely. Aside from that, any company approached with a buyout offer would have to factor in the merchandise that a wrestler sells. And if I'm reading your suggestion right, the buyout amount would go to the promotion who has the worker under contract, meaning you'd still have to work out a contract with the worker. So using the RVD example, you'd have to pay the fed he was in the 720K, plus negotiate a new contract with him (and I'm sure he'd want a raise, since he'd clearly be in the driver's seat, since you paid out all that money for the rights to talk to him.) That's almost one and a half million!

[tom_wk]

WCW bought out Mike Awesome's contract in april 2000 when he was ECW champ. Though that's the only one that springs to mind immediately...

[T-Jay]

Goldberg was offered a contract in early 2001 if i remember right. If he accepted then he would have lost the rest of his WCW contract (which was being paid out as part of the WWE's takeover), and the WWE offered Sweet FA to what he was being paid anyway. He had said at that time he would get paid more to sit on his ass for 3 more years than work for the WWE and get paid much less.

[Raderick]

In regards to production, WCW blew the WWF out of the water when it came to production until about late 1999 (around the time Smackdown! went to air) when they updated their television studios and overall presentation. By that time the WWF was up in the ratings race by single digits.

[Raderick]

[QUOTE=T-Jay;410604]Goldberg was offered a contract in early 2001 if i remember right. If he accepted then he would have lost the rest of his WCW contract (which was being paid out as part of the WWE's takeover), and the WWE offered Sweet FA to what he was being paid anyway. He had said at that time he would get paid more to sit on his ass for 3 more years than work for the WWE and get paid much less.[/QUOTE] Goldberg was contracted to the Universal Wrestling Corporation and not WCW, and being that he was still getting large paychecks he opted to sit at home until his contract ran out.