ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WWE (NYSE:WWE) announced tonight that WrestleMania 33 became the highest-grossing event in the history of the Orlando Citrus Bowl and broke the stadium’s attendance record with 75,245 fans from all 50 states and 62 countries. WWE’s annual pop-culture extravaganza grossed $14.5 million, surpassing the previous record set by the Rolling Stones in 2015. The previous Orlando Citrus Bowl attendance record was set by WrestleMania 24 in 2008 with 74,635 fans.
As part of the week-long WrestleMania celebration, WWE will have an unprecedented five consecutive nights of sellouts at the Citrus Bowl and Amway Center.
“WrestleMania Week was a tremendous success for the City of Orlando and it was an honor to host WWE and their fans back in our community," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “This is a testament to the investments we’ve made in our community venues that continue to attract these showcase events and solidify Orlando as the nation's leading sports and entertainment destination."
“WrestleMania made a triumphant return to Orlando and again broke multiple records,” said WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor. ”This success would not have been possible without the tireless support of Mayor Dyer, the Local Organizing Committee and all of the public and private sector partners throughout Central Florida. We now turn our attention to New Orleans for our WrestleMania 34 celebration.”
WrestleMania 34 will take place on Sunday, April 8, 2018 from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Ticket information will be announced later this year.
Top Ten All-Time Attendance Records at WrestleMania:
1. 101,763: WrestleMania 32, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, April
3, 2016
2. 93,173: WrestleMania 3, Pontiac Silverdome,
Pontiac, Michigan, March 29, 1987
3. 80,676: WrestleMania 29,
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, April 7, 2013
4.
80,103: WrestleMania 23, Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan, April 1,
2007
5. 78,363: WrestleMania 28, Sun Life Stadium, Miami,
Florida, April 1, 2012
6. 76,976: WrestleMania 31, Levi’s
Stadium, Santa Clara, California, March 29, 2015
7. 75,245: WrestleMania
33, Orlando Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida, April 2, 2017
8. 75,167: WrestleMania
30, Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA, April 6, 2014
9.
74,635: WrestleMania 24, Orlando Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida,
March 30, 2008
10. 72,744: WrestleMania 25, Reliant Stadium,
Houston, Texas, April 5, 2009
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 25 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: WWE Network; major distribution agreements; our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including, without limitation, claims relating to CTE; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our revolving credit facility; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the relatively small public “float” of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
