# Pay per view
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [March 17, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265 "2019-03-17T15:55:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/1 "2019-03-17T15:55:11Z")
Hi Guys,
How many people have to sign up for
“Pay per view” to make it worthwhile?
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/2 "2019-03-17T19:27:28Z")
People who sign up - P
Price they pay - p
Cost of operations for event and PPV platform - C
C \< Pp
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/3 "2019-03-17T20:03:40Z")
It can be a little complicated. Many PPV events are live events with ticket sales, so the content provider only has to pay for the additional PPV marketing which will vary greatly in cost. The content provider has to work with a PPV channel, and they have to work with the satellite and cable companies, and they all decide how much they will pay for marketing, and then each PPV sale gets split up among all those parties, and there can be more.
For most of the parties involved it’s just matter of paying for the marketing except for the content provider who may need to have a minimum number of sales to cover the cost of producing that content.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/4 "2019-03-17T20:59:30Z")
In the late 90s I worked for the US Navy’s
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR). For the most part I worked in a movie theater on a Naval base.
On rare occasions we would have PPV events that you could buy a ticket and see, I distinctly remember some wrestling events.
That place could afford to operate at a loss, though. So I’m not sure if they made any profit from it. And I’m not sure if it’s legal for just anyone to display an event like that to the paying public or if MWR got special permission. I did get to watch some great matches on a movie screen though! 🙂
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/5 "2019-03-17T21:53:53Z")
no, you can’t legally charge admission to a PPV event, in fact, if you plan on showing a live ppv event in a bar etc there’s licensing fees involved (the ufc charged my fav sports bar 3 k a year …they calculate the fee based on bar capacity)
for the navy, the WWE probably looked the other way on the tickets and fees as a "charity " thing
But a few years ago the E had a squad of people that would go in various bars and clubs and see whos charging people to watch their PPVs and ended up getting a few states to launch crackdowns and such that was worth millions and involved a few hundred places
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/6 "2019-03-17T21:57:33Z")
> [@nightshadea](#):
>
> no, you can’t legally charge admission to a PPV event, in fact, if you plan on showing a live ppv event in a bar etc there’s licensing fees involved (the ufc charged my fav sports bar 3 k a year …they calculate the fee based on bar capacity).
To be clear, a venue can charge admission for PPV events once they’ve agreed to the license terms, which is usually based on capacity as you say.
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/7 "2019-03-17T23:29:09Z")
Before the birth of the WWE Network, I went to a few “WWE Blast Zones” to catch two WrestleManias and the Money in the Bank pay-per-view where CM Punk defeated John Cena. (CM Punk put my ass in that seat.) The Blast Zones were bars where they showed the events; each of them had at least 100 die-hard fans in them.
I don’t remember them charging me anything to be there, but perhaps there was a cover charge?
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/8 "2019-03-17T23:50:27Z")
i think it might be a L.A./la county thing. on the not being able to charge …
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pay-per-view/831265/9 "2019-03-18T01:52:36Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#):
>
> Before the birth of the WWE Network, I went to a few “WWE Blast Zones” to catch two WrestleManias and the Money in the Bank pay-per-view where CM Punk defeated John Cena. (CM Punk put my ass in that seat.) The Blast Zones were bars where they showed the events; each of them had at least 100 die-hard fans in them.
>
> I don’t remember them charging me anything to be there, but perhaps there was a cover charge?
By the way, this was in Hampton Roads, Virginia.