WrestleMania 33 had its best show in the wrestling entertainment business, as the event of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. struck new fan attendance, revenue, sales and digital media records. The WWE announced last week Thursday that the company's total merchandise revenue at WrestleMania 33 was $3.7 million, which made it the highest-earning event in the company's history.
The merchandise sales at WrestleMania 33 went up to $2.3 million from WrestleMania 24. Those events were hosted in the same building, the Camping World Stadium, also known as the Orlando Citrus Bowl, which is located in Orlando, Florida.
As WrestleMania 33 became the highest-grossing event in the history of stadium with $14.5 million in overall revenue, the company set a new fan attendance record with 75,245, according to the WWE last week Monday. That record surpassed the previous event record calculated by the Rolling Stones in 2015.
“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,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement. “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.”
WWE's content via digital and social media
Nielsen Social noted that WrestleMania 33 had 5.19 million interactions on Facebook and Twitter during the broadcast, making it the most social event in WWE history.
The WWE has more than 490 million video views on digital platforms such as WWE.com, WWE App and social media.
In addition to social and digital media, the WWE expands to accelerate the significant growth of WWE Network. WrestleMania 33 reportedly became the most-watched event in history after the WWE Network entered a new record with 1.95 million global households, rising by 7 percent from April 2016.
“Results today demonstrate that we are effectively executing our multi-platform content strategy," WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon said. "WWE Network continues to drive transformative growth for our company and is a key element of our global content ecosystem, which includes traditional television, digital and social platforms and our direct-to-consumer service (WWE Network).”
WWE Network did not impress investors despite breaking multiple records
Despite record-breaking numbers, investors were not quite impressed with the WWE's stock market performance, according to a report by financial publication Barron's, based in New York.
It was reported that WWE shares dropped 11 cents to $22.11. The WWE stock sold off when the company has 1.66 million paid subscribers for the WWE Network.
The publication cited that investors are likely eager in the company's growth of streaming TV network. For investors, the WWE showed promising signs on getting shares from subscriptions, but things did not turn out the way investors would expect them to. The WWE has been using free subscription promotions to target new users and former subscribers who cancelled their subscriptions.
The company is expected to have an average of 1.63 million subscribers during the second quarter period. Trading firm MKM Partners noted that analysts expected WWE to have 1.64 million subscribers in the second quarter period.
Prior to WrestleMania 33, the WWE Network posseses 1.41 million subscribers, which is a 14 percent increase from last year.
WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans
The WWE will host WrestleMania 34 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in 2018, just as it did three years ago. The WrestleMania 30 was held in the same arena in New Orleans.
