WWE’s digital strategy continues to pay off in a major way, especially when it comes to the company’s growing archive content on YouTube.
A new report published by Front Office Sports on Friday took a closer look at WWE’s YouTube approach, including the continued success of the WWE Vault channel and the company’s plans for streaming special events on the platform.
According to WWE Head of Digital Media Steve Braband, even those within the company are surprised by how successful some of the archival content has become.
“The success of that came with no new resources [needed],” Braband said. “We tapped into a few people that were passionate about our archive, saw the engagement on our main channel, and just moved our whole vault to this page. We’re about to hit the four-million sub mark, and it shocks me every week how some content does.”
The WWE Vault channel has become a major hub for fans looking to revisit classic matches, full premium live events, and storyline compilations from WWE’s extensive library. WWE has also expanded the concept by launching a separate WCW-themed archive channel.
Pretty impressive growth.
The report noted that “as of mid-May, the Vault page had 133.6 million hours viewed over the previous year, representing 131 percent year-over-year growth.”
The article also focused heavily on WWE’s decision to stream AAA Noche de Los Grandes live on YouTube this Saturday. The show will feature a Mask vs. Mask main event between Ludwig Kaiser’s El Grande Americano character and Original El Grande Americano, portrayed by Chad Gable.
Braband explained that WWE sees YouTube as much more than just a content platform, viewing it instead as a key promotional tool for expanding the brand and creating new stars.
“We’re looking at it as a way to share content, create good content, drive business goals, but also remember how YouTube is connected to the whole Google sphere of it all,” he said. “It’s a marketing tool. You’re able to show off this brand and grow it and grow new superstars.”
