The all-time pro wrestling gate record for a one-day event is held by Wrestlemania 32 in 2016 in Arlington, Texas. WWE stated in a press release the gate was $17.3 million, which might include fees, which, if it did, I’d estimate the fees add on an additional 5% to 10%.
Last year’s Wrestlemania, over its two days combined, sold $21.6 million in ticket sales, according to WWE. That figure likely includes fees because data we have from Pollstar shows the two events sold a combined $19,749,071, which is 9% lower than WWE’s announced gate.
Ticket prices for this year’s Wrestlemania are substantially higher than the 2023 events. Sales volume is similar, based on WrestleTix estimates of tickets distributed, and assuming the comp rate is similar, this year’s Wrestlemania will blow away last year’s two-day gate of $21.6 million with fees or $19.7 million without.
It’s not even out of the question that either day by itself will challenge the all-time one-day gate record held by Wrestlemania 32.
According to Pollstar, last year’s Night 1 sold 67,553 tickets. Night 2 sold 67,303. Estimates of tickets distributed from WrestleTix for this year’s Wrestlemania are now similar to the final estimates of last year’s event.
WrestleTix estimated 67,303 and 67,553 for last year’s events in Inglewood. The latest estimates for this weekend’s events in Philadelphia are now 67,582 and 67,664, slightly higher than last year’s final numbers. It seems reasonable therefore to assume sales volume will be similar enough.
Across both nights, last year’s Wrestlemania had an average ticket sold price of $155 (based on 127,531 tickets sold for $19,749,071).
If Wrestlemania 32’s $17.3 million record includes fees and is about 9% lower without fees, then the all-time gate record without fees is about $15.7 million. Of course, the U.S. dollar has inflated since 2016, and we’ll address that below too.
But first, in terms of real-time dollars, what would the average ticket sold price need to be for this year’s Wrestlemania to break the all-time gate record? Taking for granted about the same number of tickets will be sold on each night as last year, 63,766 (half of 127,531), we can apply simple algebra.
$15,700,000 = 63,766x
x = $246
Is it possible this year’s average ticket costs $246, a 59% increase over last year? Maybe. It’s hard to say as first-market Wrestlemania tickets are probably dynamically priced by Ticketmaster, meaning the prices for the same seats might change over time. As I sit here (just got to hotel in Philadelphia) the cheapest ticket on Ticketmaster for Saturday is $164. The cheapest ticket for Sunday is $174. The average of those two prices is $169.
According to an article from Sporting News, the cheapest ticket last year was $67 for Night 1 and $84 for Night 2. The average of those two prices is $76. Pollstar actually puts the lowest ticket price at $25, much lower, but let’s go with the Sporting News prices to be conservative.
To apply the math crudely $169 (this year) compared to $76 (last year) is a 122% increase in the prices of the cheapest tickets, far beyond the 59% our algebra formula above required. Of course, this is a rough estimate and it’s even harder to estimate what prices were between the two years across the stadium at all pricing tiers and in what volume sales in each section occurred.
If, again to use that crude estimate, all tickets sold this year are about 122% more expensive than last year, the average ticket sold price for Wrestlemania 40 would be $344. If about the same number of tickets are sold, then the gate for each night of Wrestlemania this year will be about $21.9 million, roughly the gate for both events last year. That would shatter Wrestlemania 32’s record, even adjusting for inflation as $15.7 million in 2016 is worth about $20.0 million today.
And that’s without fees. Including fees, I suppose WWE would announce a number around 9% higher, or $24 million each night, and nearly $50 million combining both nights. Wrestlemania 32’s gate record of $17.3 million in 2016 would be worth about $22.4 million in today’s dollars.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.