EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WWE® (NYSE: WWE) announced tonight that WrestleMania 29 became the highest grossing live event in its history and broke the record for MetLife Stadium’s highest grossing entertainment event. WWE’s annual pop-culture extravaganza grossed $12.3 million, as 80,676 fans from all 50 states and 34 countries converged on MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The event is broadcast around the world on pay-per-view in more than 100 countries and 20 languages.
The previous MetLife Stadium record for an entertainment event’s gross revenue was a U2 concert on July 20, 2011, which grossed $8.9 million. This is the fourth consecutive year that WWE broke the host venue’s record for the highest-grossing entertainment event.
"On behalf of the great state of New Jersey, I want to thank all of the fans that came from around the world to beautiful MetLife Stadium for WrestleMania 29," said New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie. "WWE put on a show like no other and electrified the capacity crowd."
“WrestleMania came home and had an incredible impact on the entire New York/New Jersey region,” said John P. Saboor, Senior Vice President of Special Events, WWE. “We want to thank our fans as well as our public and private sector partners for their support. We now turn our attention to the Big Easy for next year’s historic 30th anniversary of WrestleMania.”
WrestleMania 30 takes place on Sunday, April 6, 2014 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA. Ticket information will be announced later this year.
Top Five All-Time Attendance Records at WrestleMania:
1. 93,173: WrestleMania 3, Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan, March
29, 1987
2. 80,676: WrestleMania 29, MetLife Stadium, East
Rutherford, New Jersey, April 7, 2013
3. 80,103: WrestleMania 23,
Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan, April 1, 2007
4. 78,363:
WrestleMania 28, Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida, April 1, 2012
5.
74,635: WrestleMania 24, Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida, March 30, 2008
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 is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 600 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul 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/.
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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 maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television and pay-per-view programming distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business; risks relating to increasing content production for distribution on various platforms, including the potential creation of a WWE Network; risks relating to our computer systems and online operations; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. 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, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.
