MLW's Court Bauer Discusses The Problems Of Wrestling On YouTube
MLW recently made the move to Vice TV
YouTube has been a haven for wrestling promotions to broadcast their programming, whether it's a smaller company's primary show, or (in the case of AEW) their secondary shows.
In the eyes of MLW CEO Court Bauer (whose MLW Fusion had run on YouTube since November), YouTube is not an ideal companion for wrestling promotions to broadcast their events, and expressed as such in a recent interview with POST Wrestling.
"We've had more constructive conversations (with YouTube) in the last few months. I still think they are having an internal identity crisis," Bauer explains. "At one point in the last year, we talked to them about how they operate and it's very problematic for many wrestling companies. At one time, they had an original content division and a sports division and were about to rev up and wanted to get in the space of Hulu and Netflix. Then, overnight, everyone was gone and they shuttered a lot of those divisions and were like, 'Yeah, we're going to do the YouTube thing like always.' They go back and forth on what they're going to be.
"They generate a lot of money. Look at the Paul brothers. My kids watch strictly YouTube and a lot of guys just play video games and they have mansions. It generates mega-money for select people. Will YouTube always sustain because of that? Probably. What will be in ten years, I can't say. The world of streaming will get more competitive and where does YouTube fit? It's hard to say. There is a lot of competition and it's endless."
MLW premiered on Vice TV on Saturday, May 1.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.