WWE WrestleMania 40 expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Philly

[JACK ALYMER]

IT’S BEEN CALLED THE SHOWCASE OF THE IMMORTALS. THE GRANDEST STAGE OF THEM ALL. A POP CULTURE EXTRAVAGANZA.

BUT FOR MILLIONS OF PRO WRESTLING FANS AROUND THE WORLD – THEY KNOW IT BEST – AS WRESTLEMANIA.

FOR THE 40^TH TIME — WWE’S MARQUEE PREMIUM LIVE EVENT IS UPON US – EMANATING THIS YEAR FROM THE HOME OF THE NFL’S PHILADELPHIA EAGLES – LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD.

BUT WRESTLEMANIA – WHICH HAS EXPANDED TO TWO NIGHTS IN RECENT YEARS – IS NOT THE ONLY EVENT IN TOWN –

PHILLY WILL SEE A WEEKLONG CELEBRATION OF SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT FROM VARIOUS PROMOTIONS PUTTING ON SHOWS FOR THE INFLUX OF TRAVELING WRESTLING DIE-HARDS.

THE PHILADELPHIA VISITORS BUREAU EXPECTING WWE’S FESTIVITIES AROUND PHILLY TO BRING IN OVER 200 THOUSAND WRESTLING FANS TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE.

LARRY NEEDLE – THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU’S SPORTS DIVISION – TOLD THE PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL – THAT EVEN THOUGH PHILLY BID ON WRESTLEMANIA IN THE PAST – THIS WAS THE RIGHT TIME FOR IT TO HAPPEN.

SAYING QUOTE

“The beauty of it for us all as a city is that now we’re going to get WrestleMania in all of its glory. … If we did this even five or 10 years ago we would not have the benefit of the WrestleMania as it exists today.”

[JACK ALYMER]

PHILADELPHIA IS LOOKING TO TOP LOS ANGELES IN TERMS OF BUSINESS FROM THE BIG EVENT – WRESTLEMANIA 39 GENERATED 215 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE LA AREA –ACCORDING TO A STUDY CONDUCTED BY APPLIED ANALYSIS.

THAT TOPPED THE 206 POINT 5 MILLION DOLLARS GENERATED A YEAR PRIOR FOR WRESTLEMANIA 38 IN DALLAS.

THIS TIME AROUND FANS TOOK NO TIME TO SET RECORDS –WWE TOUTING WRESTLEMANIA 40 BROKE THE COMPANY’S ALL-TIME GATE RECORD IN ONE DAY – WITH 90 THOUSAND TICKETS SELLING IN JUST HOURS OF GOING ON SALE IN AUGUST — SURPASSING THE 21 POINT 6 MILLION DOLLAR RECORD SET LAST YEAR.

AND SINCE WE’RE TALKING NUMBERS – WE TALKED WITH BRANDON THURSTON WHO RUNS WRESTLENOMICS – THE SITE THAT LOOKS AT THE ECONOMICS OF THE WRESTLING INDUSTRY.

THURSTON SAYS 50 THOUSAND TICKETS HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR EACH NIGHT OF WRESTLEMANIA — THE SUPER BOWL OF SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“WrestleMania is the biggest wrestling event of the year. This is the 40^th one. It started in 1985. It is the wrestling event that people will know best that is the peak wrestling event…it really started the notion that the entire country and entire world could be watching one wrestling event at one time.”

[JACK ALYMER]

WWE IS CURRENTLY SEEING RECORD FINANCIAL SUCCESS – WITH A RISE IN ATTENDANCE AND TV RATINGS.

JUST THIS WEEK – WWE SPOTLIGHTING A RISE IN THE KEY ADVERTISING DEMO OF 18 TO 49 YEAR OLDS FOR THEIR WEEKLY PROGRAMS

OF RAW AND SMACKDOWN, AVERAGING 733 THOUSAND AND 892 THOUSAND TOTAL VIEWERS IN THE DEMO FOR QUARTER ONE.

THURSTON ATTRIBUTES THAT TO WHAT’S KNOWN IN THE BIZ -AS CREATIVE. THE STORYLINES AND THE CHARACTERS

AND RIGHT NOW THERE’S NO BIGGER STAR IN WRESTLING THAN THE BIGGEST STAR IN HOLLYWOOD – THE ROCK–  AND HIS ON-SCREEN PERSONA NICKNAMED “THE FINAL BOSS” IS NOT SHY ABOUT TAKING ALL THE CREDIT.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“What you’re feeling right now, you’re feeling the energy, you’re feeling the mana because right now professional wrestling is cool. Right now the ratings have skyrocketed because of the Rock.”

“They’re getting more money. They’re becoming a more profitable company. It’s a flip from what the wrestling business used to be decades ago where it was largely a live event business and it’s really become a business where – yeah, we still sell tickets and that’s great to do, but it’s more than ever it’s a  media business, it’s selling some form of  video – whether that’s television programs weekly, whether it’s these big events like WrestleMania that’ll go on Peacock. It’s selling lot of media and they want to do more sponsorships.

[JACK ALYMER]

INDEED WWE HAS BEEN MAKING DEALS OVER THE PAST YEAR – MERGING WITH UFC TO FORM THE 21 POINT FOUR BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY TKO –

STRIKING A 5 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL TO SEND RAW TO NETFLIX IN 2025 –

SWITCHING SMACKDOWN FROM FOX TO THE USA NETWORK IN OCTOBER IN A 1 POINT 4 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL –

AND SOMETHING THAT WWE HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE – SELL ADVERTISING ON ITS RING MAT TO PRIME HYDRATION – A SPORTS DRINK COMPANY FOUNDED BY WWE SUPERSTAR LOGAN PAUL.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTING IT’S THE LARGEST SPONSORSHIP DEAL IN WWE HISTORY.

BUT IT HASN’T BEEN ALL GOOD NEWS OVER THE PAST YEAR FOR THE WWE –

SOT CBS NEWS: “VINCE MCMAHON THE INFAMOUS FOUNDER OF WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT HAS RESIGNED AS EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF ITS COMPANY.”

MCMAHON STEPPED DOWN AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY A FORMER EMPLOYEE. HE HAS DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS.

BUT WHILE THE CASE GAVE WWE BAD HEADLINES – THURSTON SAYS IT DIDN’T AFFECT FAN ENGAGEMENT IN THE PRODUCT.

IN FACT HE SAYS – THE WWE HAS BENEFITED FROM MCMAHON BEING REMOVED FROM THE COMPANY.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“The popularity of WWE increasing over the last couple of years has a lot to do with Vince being more removed from creative than ever. There’s definitely a reception with fans that the product has improved and I think Vince was an impediment to WWE’s creative connecting with fans and making them feel like they were excited for the show and wanted to tune in, spending money and time towards WWE events. And Vince being removed from creative has allowed Paul Levesque and others to step in and produce a show that is more satisfying for more people and more people are excited about.”

[JACK ALYMER]

PAUL LEVESQUE – BETTER KNOWN TO FANS AS WRESTLER TURNED EXECUTIVE TRIPLE H – IS IN CHARGE OF WWE’S CREATIVE DIRECTION –

AND WHAT STORIES ARE AHEAD FOR ITS BIGGEST STARS

LIKE CODY RHODES, SETH ROLLINS, ROMAN REIGNS THE ROCK

RHEA RHIPLEY AND BECKY LYNCH – AND WHAT WE’LL SEE AT WRESTLEMANIA.

[PAUL LEVESQUE]

“BUT ON APRIL 6^TH AND APRIL 7^TH IN PHILADEPHIA WE’RE GOING TO TAKE YOU TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. IT IS A NEW TIME. IT IS A NEW ERA AND IT IS AN ALL-NEW WWE. AND I PROMISE YOU THIS, YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET.”

[JACK ALYMER]

THURSTON SAYS WHILE WWE MAY HAVE HAD MORE MAINSTREAM BUZZ DURING THE HULKAMANIA ERA OF THE 1980S

OR THE EDGY ATTITUDE ERA THAT FEATURED STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN OF THE LATE 1990S –

THIS ERA – THE TKO ERA – IS THE COMPANY’S MOST PROFITABLE.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“You can talk about the Attitude Era, yes, it was definitely  more popular than. Hulkamania era, I would say yes, it was definitely more popular in terms of mainstream awareness and engagement, certainly. But the cable bubble declining and people cutting the cord from cable has caused this demand from TV networks toward their most popular programs which are still what’s keeping the declining cable TV business together. And (two) of the most popular programs on television, if you look at the ratings, (are) WWE Raw and Smackdown.  So that’s what really helping them become more profitable than ever.

[JACK ALYMER]

SO WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME WHEN THE FINAL BELL RINGS AT WRESTLEMANIA 40? CODY RHODES FINISHING HIS STORY? OR ROMAN REIGNS DOMINATING AS THE HEAD OF THE TABLE? THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN.

BUT IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC WINS — ALL THE NUMBERS POINT TO WWE AND PHILLY – A CITY KNOWN FOR ITS STORIED HISTORY —  MAKING SOME MORE DURING WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND.