The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion has announced record gate revenue and viewership for its Royal Rumble flagship event in San Antonio, Texas over the weekend.
The event, held on Saturday (January 28), drew $7.7 million in gate sales, a more than 50% rise from its previous record, which was set by the 2017 edition with $4.9 million.
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Viewership for the event increased 52% from last year’s record-setting event, while merchandise sales also saw a 135% jump on the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Sponsorship revenue, meanwhile, was up nearly 200% on the back of the event’s first-ever sponsored match by Mountain Dew’s MTN Dew Pitch Black and a sponsored countdown clock by restaurant chain Applebee’s.
Across its social media platforms, videos featuring the popular Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn generated more than 20 million views, while Reign’s TikTok account gained 100,000 followers during the first 24 hours of its launch.
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Logan Paul and Richochet’s clash during the event generated 26.5 million views on the WWE’s social media platforms, as well as Paul’s accounts.
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By GlobalDataEarlier this month (January 6) WWE announced record ticket sales for the upcoming edition of its flagship Wrestlemania event.
The promotion said gate receipts for Wrestlemania 39, also titled WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, which takes place on April 1 and 2 this year, surpassed the record $17.3 million generated by WrestleMania 32 in 2016, three months ahead of the event and with no matches yet announced.
Both ticket records come amid uncertainty over the future ownership of the promotion after Vince McMahon, its former chairman and chief executive, was reinstated to the board of directors to lead a possible sale of the company.
McMahon retired in July last year after the board opened an investigation into an alleged $3 million ‘hush money’ settlement between him and an ex-employee with whom he had a consensual affair.
WWE’s board then reportedly uncovered “other, older non-disclosure agreements involving claims by former female WWE employees of misconduct” totaling more than $12 million over the last 16 years. He then stepped back from his duties in June, before retiring a month later.
Since his return, WWE has hired US financial advisory firm Raine Group to assist the company’s review of strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of the company. It also hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis as its legal advisor and brought in an outside communications firm to assist with the process.
It was reported earlier this month that WWE had been sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
