Salt Lake City, Utah - Population: 183,102
Austin, Texas - Population: 786,386
West Palm Beach, Florida - Population: 99,504
Medford, Oregon - Population: 73,485
Providence, Rhode Island - Population: 171,909
Beaumont, Texas - Population: 110,110
Albany, New York - Population: 93,836
Chattanooga, Tennessee - Population: 171,350
Grand Rapids, Michigan - Population: 193,710
Lansing, Michigan - Population: 113,802
The important thing to note is the population of some of these markets, the fact that some aren't above 100,000 would prove disastrous if ROH decided to do a house show in those markets. Of these acquisition the only market that looks extremely promising for live shows would be Texas as Austin's high population rate along with Beaumont's relatively short distance to San Antonio (already a market with television) and Houston could lead to success.
Some of the largest markets where Ring of Honor currently has a Sinclair Affiliate:
San Antonio, Texas - 2,194,927* (This seemed high and heavily disputed)
Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, North Carolina - Combined Metro Population: 1,599,477
Columbus, Ohio - 769,332
Baltimore, Maryland - 637,418
Nashville, Tennessee - 605,473
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 605,013
Peoria/Bloomington, Illinois - Combined Metro Population: 585,000
Las Vegas, Nevada - 567,641
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - 560,333
Raleigh, North Carolina - 405,612
Minneapolis, Minnesota - 385,378
Cincinnati, Ohio - 333,012
St. Louis, Missouri - 356,587
Ring of Honor did live events in these Sinclair markets since the buyout, the number next to each city is the amount of tickets sold to the event:
Baltimore, MD (800 for January 7th show - Sellout, 700 for February 4th show, 450 for March 3rd show) (It should be noted this is Sinclair Broadcasting's Corporate Headquarters)
Norfolk, WV (350)
Cincinnati, OH (500)
Greensboro, NC (375)
Spartanburg, SC (350)
Dayton, OH (450)
Collinsville, IL (325) (Considered a suburb of St. Louis, MO).
These numbers do not look encouraging for the company's future hopes of having profitable tours that grow. Contrasting this, the only ROH show I ever attended was in November of 2010, the attendance was 665 which made the venue feel somewhat full. The bright side of this is that these cities were all in the Midwest or Mid-Atlantic area so travel expenses were somewhat lower and they managed to expose the product to new faces. Ring of Honor does have the fortune of drawing dependable houses in their major markets such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit.
The company's biggest problem is exposure and the quality of the product. Ring of Honor is designed to tour based off of television in local markets as their primary method of generating money. If I was in a position of power that Jim Cornette or Joe Koff are currently in, I would consider the possibility that this method of business for this industry is dying.
This will lead to part two, where I discuss the company's television output and the highest hurdles it still must face. To check out Ring of Honor in your area check out their TV Listings or go to ROHWrestling.com to watch online
NOTE: The population figures used were from recent census data and some media industry resources to determine the population of a given metro area. The attendance figures were found in Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
