AEW is paying a 50% discounted rate of $232,000 to the Arlington Expo Center and Esports Venues, LLC to use the Esports Stadium for the “Path to All In” series of events in July and August, according to records obtained by Wrestlenomics via public records request.
A term sheet seems to suggest the local tourism organization might grant AEW money or incentives to offset those costs.
The residence in Arlington will consist of five Collision tapings (four of which will be live broadcasts) and the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, as previously announced.
AEW’s press release last month also mentioned that “[a]dditional Ring of Honor dates will be announced in the near future”.
A schedule AEW personnel sent to city staff in an email on Apr. 29 includes two unannounced Ring of Honor TV taping days, on Jul. 28 (a Sunday) and Aug. 16 (a Friday). Given they weren’t included in the announcement, it seems possible those dates could change.
We reached out to AEW public relations for this story, but they didn’t provide a comment.
The term sheet mentions, “The selection of Arlington for the AEW residency and the hospitality impacts that the six AEW events potentially bring to the venue and the City’s Entertainment District are note-worthy.”
That sentence seems to allude to the positive economic impact the events may bring to the local area.
The term sheet refers to a separate agreement among the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau, AEW, and the Arlington Sports Commission that will “seek rental offset from the Arlington Tourism Public Improvement District,” but further details on what that might entail aren’t evident from the records we received.
The venue contract shows that the $232,000 cost to AEW breaks down as $112,000 to the Arlington Expo Center.
The term sheet says (though we don’t have a contract to back this up) that AEW will pay Esports Venues, LLC $120,000 (or $15,000 per event) for the use of the venue’s broadcast suite and equipment.
AEW claims one paragraph in the venue contract is a trade secret. The paragraph was redacted in the city’s record release to us.
A footnote in the contract says, “AEW claims this paragraph as a Trade Secret, and therefore, requests the paragraph be redacted unless and until the Texas AG’s office provides a conflicting opinion.”
We were provided with a copy of a letter from the City of Arlington to the Texas Attorney General’s office asking for approval that this information can be withheld, similar to requests for approval that Texas government entities have made recently on WWE’s behalf in response to our records requests.
According to a table on the executed contract, AEW will “move-in” and “move-out” of the venue in intervals when the company isn’t running events. AEW will move-in and -out five times. But the term sheet says AEW’s production rig will stay in the venue throughout the residence, which should allow AEW to keep costs down. The use of the venue’s production facilities will also allow AEW to avoid leasing a production truck for the stay.
The schedule also notes that Collision will air early on Aug. 3 due to WWE Summerslam airing in primetime that night, which would explain why Collision is being taped on the prior Thursday that week.
City records show the venue will be scaled for 1,290 seats, with an average on-sale price of $45.02, meaning the maximum gate for one event would be $58,080.
AEW could cover the $232,000 venue costs by selling just over 5,000 tickets at an average ticket price of $45. Assuming that average ticket price, AEW could make the venue cost back by averaging about 650 ticket sales across the eight events.
We also received email records between AEW and government staff. There was some initial discussion about AEW potentially subletting the space to New Japan or CMLL during the days AEW isn’t using the venue. A member of venue staff followed up with Ryan Seddon, AEW’s VP of Global Touring, about that subject on May 14, but it’s not clear this went beyond anything more than an idea between staff members.
Seddon wrote back on the same day: “As of right now – we’ve been focusing on getting AEW’s ‘ducks in a row’. Once we have our plans and production 100% finalized – we could have those conversations. But right now – none have taken place.”
Another email record from just ahead of the May 16 announcement shows the Dallas Morning News had a 15-minute exclusive window on the news, and AEW staff were urged to mention the news as “first reported” by the local outlet on social media.
The contract states that half of the venue fee ($56,000) is due to the city on Jun. 19. The second half is due on July 15, which is four days before AEW’s first move-in date.
Above: Table from the executed agreement between AEW and the City of Arlington
Above: Schedule of events provided by AEW to City of Arlington personnel
Above: Manifest and scaling for AEW’s residency at Esports Stadium
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.