STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WWE® (NYSE:WWE) and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced today that WrestleMania 33 generated $181.5 million in economic impact for the Orlando region this past April, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. This marks a new record for WrestleMania’s economic impact and the sixth consecutive year that WrestleMania generated more than $100 million in economic impact for its host region.
Over the past 11 years, WrestleMania has generated more than $1 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event. WrestleMania 33 also generated approximately $22.7 million in federal, state and local taxes.
“On behalf of the residents of the City of Orlando, I would like to thank the tens of thousands of WWE fans that converged on our city to be part of WrestleMania Week,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “The week-long series of events boosted our economy by bringing guests to our restaurants, shops and hotels, and also benefited our city through community outreach initiatives. We look forward to welcoming WrestleMania back soon.”
"This historic result would not have been possible without the support of Mayor Dyer, the Central Florida Sports Commission and all of our public and private sector partners in Orlando that worked so hard to again welcome WWE’s global fan base,” said John P. Saboor, WWE Executive Vice President, Special Events. "We continue to be grateful to our fans who helped us deliver unprecedented economic results for our WrestleMania host city. We now look ahead to our return to New Orleans in 2018 for WrestleMania 34."
A record crowd of 75,245 fans from all 50 states and 62 countries attended WWE’s pop-culture extravaganza this past April, making it the highest-grossing and most-attended event in Citrus Bowl history. Key highlights from the study include:
- $181.5 million in direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by visitors to the Orlando region for WrestleMania 33.
- 79% of fans that attended WrestleMania were from outside the Orlando region and stayed an average of 5.6 nights.
- $24.8 million was spent on hotels and accommodations within Orlando.
- The economic impact derived from WrestleMania Week was equal to the creation of 1,730 full-time jobs for the area.
- $9.3 million was spent by visitors to Orlando at area restaurants.
Next year, WrestleMania 34 will take place Sunday, April 8 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Tickets will be available this Friday, November 17 at 11 AM ET/10 AM CT through Ticketmaster. The event will be streamed live around the world on WWE Network.
About Enigma Research Corporation
Enigma Research Corporation is an international consulting firm which specializes in measuring the economic impact of special events. Enigma’s economists developed a customized model which converted expenditures into economic impact, employment supported and taxes generated as a result of the event.
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 20 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/
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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: 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, including anticipated release, marketing or involved talent for upcoming titles and productions; 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.
