The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
WrestleMania 38 smacks down attendance records
STAMFORD — WWE describes Wrestle Mania as its annual “pop culture extravaganza.” The latest edition, which was held last weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, lived up to that billing as it broke attendance and revenue records for the Stamford based company’s events.
In total, 156,352 fans gathered at AT&T Stadium across the two nights of Wrestle Mania 38, WWE announced Monday. The turnout for the Saturday and Sunday night events surpassed the gate and attendance records set by the nearly 102,000 fans who attended the one-night Wrestle Mania 32 in 2016, which was also held at AT&T Stadium.
“We are thrilled that Wrestle Mania’s return to Dallas (area) again generated record results, proving that everything is indeed bigger in Texas,” WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Jones family and the entire Dallas Cowboys organization, the Dallas Sports Commission, the city of Arlington, the city of Dallas and all the public and private-sector partners who were instrumental in making Wrestle Mania 38 the most stupendous twonight Wrestle Mania in history. We now turn our attention to next year, where Wrestle Mania will take over Hollywood.”
Executives at the Dallas Cowboys, which plays its home games at AT&T Stadium, and local elected officials also expressed their enthusiasm about Wrestle Mania. The event’s highlights included Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ defeat of WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a “winner-take-all” championship-unification match, triumphant returns to the ring for Stone Cold Steve Austin and WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon and wins for other headliners, including Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, as well as The Miz and Logan Paul.
“On behalf of our family and the entire Dallas Cowboys organization, we are ecstatic to have once again shattered records with Wrestle Mania at AT&T Stadium,” Dallas Cowboys Chief Brand Officer Charlotte Jones said in a statement. “I’ve experienced first-hand WWE’s commitment to both its fans and host cities alike. We are so grateful for their partnership and desire to always over-deliver.”
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said in a statement that his city “is extremely grateful to WWE for bringing back its biggest annual celebration. We look forward to the opportunity to top this record with a future Wrestle Mania at AT&T Stadium.”
The massive attendance for Wrestle Mania 38 will give a major boost to WWE’s live-attendance revenues, which have been hit hard by pandemic-related restrictions in the past two years. WWE’s returns from live events plunged from about $126 million in 2019 to around $20 million in 2020, a year in which Wrestle Mania was held behind closed doors at WWE’s training center in Orlando, Fla. Last year, Wrestle Mania took place at a reduced-capacity Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., contributing to about $58 million in liveevent revenues in 2021.
A message left Monday for WWE inquiring when it would release data on Wrestle Mania-focused viewership on NBC Universal’s Peacock streaming service and WWE’s own digital platforms was not immediately returned. Last year’s Wrestle Mania generated a record 1.1 billion video views across WWE’s video and social media channels, up 14 percent year over year, according to Variety.
Wrestle Mania 39 is scheduled for April 1-2, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. WWE said ticket information for that event will be announced later this year.