How Much Is the Power Rangers Franchise Worth?
For people who do not remember the 90s, Power Rangers is a live action superhero TV series that has been running in the United States for more than two decades. The show consists of footage from the Japanese live action superhero TV series Super Sentai, which is combined with footage shot in the United States in order to create a narrative that is more suitable for American viewers. At the time of its launch, Power Rangers met with an enthusiastic reception from its intended audience, which has enabled its franchise owner to build an empire based on the show, the movies, the video games, and the merchandise.
While the show exists as a collection of series set in the same setting, its basic premise remains the same. In short, some sort of super-villain threatens the peace of the setting, which forces a mentor to recruit a team of teenagers in order to stop them by becoming super-heroes dressed in color-coded spandex suits with opaque helmets. Besides their weapons as well as their superhuman powers, they have robots that they can ride in called Zords, which can combine to create an even bigger robot called a Megazord. As a result, most episodes of the show end with a climactic fight between the Power Rangers in their Megazord and some kind of foe that has managed to expand to an incredible size.
What Are the Components of the Power Rangers Franchise?
The Power Rangers show started with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993 and has been followed by successor after successor with a single short exception when Disney chose to stop producing new seasons in 2009 before it was bought back by its original creator, Haim Saban. Initially, the show was set on the Earth, but as time passed, the settings have become wilder and wilder both because of time travel and because of interstellar travel. However, the shows are set in the same setting, meaning that while favorite characters can leave the show to make room for their successors, they are also capable of making a reappearance at some point in the future. Each of the Power Ranger teams has been based on some kind of them with some kind of connection to the current setting of the show, with examples ranging from ninja and samurai to aliens and dinosaurs.
So far, there have been two Power Rangers movies, which were set in the same setting as the shows. The first was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie in 1995, which earned more than $66 million in box office revenues, while the second was Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie in 1997, which earned a much less impressive $9.6 million in box office revenues. Like their names suggest, they were connected to the shows that shared the same name. At this point, it should be mentioned that there is a third Power Rangers movie that is scheduled to come out sometime soon, which is not connected to the current show but instead intended to serve as a reboot of the first show as a way of capturing old fans while also introducing it to new fans.
Unsurprisingly, there have been numerous Power Rangers video games released for a wide range of platforms, including but not limited to Sega, Nintendo, and PlayStation consoles. Most of these games featured the action that is emblematic of the series, but some have relied on other models as well, which is not particularly unusual for particularly successful franchises. It is interesting to note that there was a slowdown in the release of Power Rangers video games in the late 2000s, which suggests that the show is making a comeback.
Finally, it should be noted that there has been all sorts of Power Rangers merchandise made for all sorts of fans. Toys are perhaps the best-known of said merchandise, but other examples have ranged from comics and luggage to clothing and accessories. In short, if there is a product aimed at children, chances are good that there was a Power Rangers version of it at some point in the 90s.
What Is the Power Rangers Franchise Worth?
Figuring out a value for the Power Rangers franchise is neither simple nor straightforward because there is a shortage of information while what information is available is so out-of-date that it is next to useless. For example, while it is know that the Power Rangers franchise had generated about $1 billion in revenue by 1995, that was more than a decade ago, which makes it not particularly useful. There is a limited amount of more recent information available as well, but it comes with its fair share of problems when it comes to estimating the franchise’s value. For example, it is known that the sales of Power Rangers toys rose from $40 million in 2011 to $80 million in 2012, but that provides an incomplete picture of what the franchise brings in. Never mind how such dramatic rises are both uncommon and unsustainable in the long run.
Instead, the best way to figure out the value of the Power Rangers franchise might be what happened when Disney sold it to its original creator, Haim Saban in 2010. Although the amount of the offer was never disclosed, it has been speculated to be about $100 million, which seems rather strange considering the billions and billions of dollars that it had generated by that point in time. Still, it is the best figure that is available, though it is important to note that the franchise’s subsequent revitalization means that it should be even more valuable by this point in time.
Without further information from the franchise owner, there is no method that can be used to come up with a better value for the Power Rangers franchise as a whole. However, there can be no doubt that it is a successful franchise, as shown by the fact that both the TV series Power Ranger Ninja Steel and the movie Saban’s Power Rangers are scheduled to come out in 2017. So long as the franchise owner continues making Power Rangers, it seems that the fans of the franchise will continue watching it.
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Rangers
- http://business.time.com/2013/08/28/the-power-rangers-turn-20-and-morph-back-into-relevance/
- http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/13/business/la-fi-ct-saban-20100513