Not that it's much of a surprise, but the WWE Million Dollar Giveaway sounds like the brainchild of a desperate man.

Vince McMahon announced Monday night on Raw that soon he would be giving away one million dollars of his own money to a fan, and intimated that such a thing would happen every Monday night.  It was clear from the careful way he was choosing his words and even the storyline of asking others for ideas that he wasn't one hundred percent sure at the time exactly what he was going to do, and the belief is that he may not even be one hundred percent sure right now.  It is believed that the company will be giving away one million dollars per week, not one million dollars total, though there is no telling for how long that might go on.  One would guess it would only be for a matter of weeks, perhaps during sweeps or at the most through SummerSlam, because the idea of giving away one million dollars a week for a full year is absurd.  Vince could afford it if he really wanted to, but chances are he's not nearly that crazy, at least not yet.  As majority shareholder he takes in a little over $11 million per quarter, or, coincidentally, just under a million dollars per week. 

The big question is why, and when you search for an answer it really hits you how poorly thought-out this was.  The easy answer would be to draw ratings, but how they're going to draw ratings with a one million dollar giveaway is beyond me.  The first problem is that just a few months ago they lied about the payoff to Floyd Mayweather Jr.  Shane McMahon, a company officer, told the press he was making $20 million to face Big Show at WrestleMania, and then a few months later they announced at their investor's conference that he didn't make that much money after all and blamed other people for coming up with that figure.  This is the wrestling business, and even if Vince McMahon took a fan backstage during every show and legitimately wrote out a check to them for one million dollars live on the air, the reality is that the vast, vast majority of fans wouldn't believe it anyway.

But let's say that whatever idea they come up with does draw ratings.  Let's say Raw goes up 0.1 or even 0.2 every week for, I don't know, a full year.  In the end, that increase is not going to increase ad revenue to the point that it will make up for the $52 million investment.  And even if it did, it doesn't matter since WWE's deal with USA Network doesn't include them making a single dime off ad revenue.  It is impossible for them to make any money with this contest.

WWE has given away things in the past.  They gave away a house, and I believe the poor guy who won it got hit with a giant tax bill that made his life hell.  They did a contest once where a lucky fan was going to win one million dollars, but in the end the fan screwed up and never got the money and that was the end of that.  Another guy offered to give away one million dollars to a lucky fan, which actually makes Vince a liar for claiming on Raw that nobody had ever done it before.  That man's name was Eric Bischoff.  He never gave away the money because shortly after Time Warner heard about this ridiculous scheme he was ousted and replaced by, of all people, Vince Russo. 

            The only thing to gain here is trouble.  Mick Foley already mentioned on Smackdown that when he heard about the million dollar giveaway he thought maybe he should put on a disguise and start sitting in the crowd.  It was a joke, but you know a number of wrestlers are thinking something very similar.  If your downside is $75,000 per year, or if you're one of the WWE legends who helped build the company and never made a million dollars during your entire career, imagine what you'd be thinking if you heard Vince come out and say he was going to give a million dollars a week away to a fan for literally no good reason.

In the end it's a lose-lose scenario, and what's most fascinating about it is that it's happening during a time when, quite frankly, business is not bad at all.  Ratings are down a bit, but realistically not all that much since more fans than ever are DVR'ing the program and watching it later.  PPV business is fine (well, Sunday will be an exception) and house show business internationally is very good.  They are coming off their biggest year of all time -- yes, bigger than anything during the Rock/Austin boom -- and this year will probably beat that year and set a new record.  I can only imagine what will happen if business really does start to slip.

****

For more pro-wrestling and MMA news and analysis with Bryan Alvarez, please visit www.figurefouronline.com.