WWE touts business success of WrestleMania 42
TKO has issued its annual press release touting the business success of WWE WrestleMania weekend.
Though down from recent heights, TKO says WrestleMania 42 was still among the highest-grossing events in company history. A gate figure was not provided, but the press release claims an attendance of 106,072 across the two nights. That’s down from the attendance number of 124,693 that WWE self-reported for WrestleMania 41 last year.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosted both WrestleMania 41 and 42. Returning to the same city so soon is likely one of the reasons for the year-over-year attendance drop, with high ticket prices also playing a factor. WWE President Nick Khan, when asked about there being a downtick in business metrics, said the decreases are small and pointed to how WWE has focused on building for the future over the past year.
In the press release, TKO said WrestleMania 42 had record or near-record performances in sponsorship, merchandise, and digital metrics:
- WrestleMania 42 featured a record 32 marketing partners, including Snickers, 2K, Riyadh Season, Ram, DoorDash, Wingstop, Wheatley American Vodka, Minute Maid, The General Insurance, PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer and Chumba Casino.
- At WWE World, a five-day interactive fan experience in partnership with Fanatics, paid experience sales reached all-time highs. WWE World also featured a lounge for attendees who signed up for Club WWE, the recently announced Gold membership experience for fans.
- Additionally, WrestleMania 42 set a new digital record, generating more than 1.3 billion views across all social platforms – up 18 percent from the record set at WrestleMania 41.
This was the first time WrestleMania aired on the ESPN app (in the United States). The first hour of each night was also simulcast on television. Full viewership is not available, but the press release highlighted the success of those TV simulcasts:
- WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the year on ESPN2, while WrestleMania Sunday was the most-viewed telecast of the entire weekend on ESPN.
WrestleMania won’t be back in the United States until at least 2028, with Saudi Arabia set to host WrestleMania 43 next year.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.