Wrestlemania Attendace History

[Robbo89]

The following is from prowrestling.about.com and it has the arenas and attendances for every wrestlemania .......

The following list has the venues and attendance of every WrestleMania. If the venue has changed names since the event, the current name is in parenthesis.

WM 1: Madison Square Garden; New York, NY - 19,121
WM 2: Nassau Coliseum; Uniondale, NY - 16,585
WM 2: Rosemont Horizon (Allstate Arena); Chicago, IL - 9,000
WM 2: Los Angeles Sports Arena; Los Angeles, CA - 14,500
WM 3: Pontiac Silverdome; Detroit, MI - 93,173
WM 4: Trump Plaza (the name of this arena changes depending upon the casino sponsoring the event, technically the name of the venue is Boardwalk Hall); Atlantic City, NJ - 19,199
WM 5: Trump Plaza; Atlantic City, NJ 20,369
WM 6: Skydome (Rogers Centre); Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 67,678
WM 7: Los Angeles Sports Arena; Los Angeles, CA - 16,158
WM 8: Hoosier Dome (Building was demolished in 2008); Indianapolis, IN - 62,167
WM 9: Caesars Palace; Las Vegas, NV - 16,891
WM 10: Madison Square Garden; New York, NY - 19,444
WM 11: Hartford Civic Center (XL Center); Hartford, CT - 16,305
WM 12: Arrowhead Pond (Honda Center); Anaheim, CA - 18,853
WM 13: Rosemont Horizon (Allstate Arena); Chicago, IL - 18,211
WM 14: FleetCenter (TD Banknorth Garden); Boston, MA - 19,028
WM 15: First Union Center (Wachovia Center); Philadelphia, PA - 19,514
WM 16: Arrowhead Pond (Honda Center); Anaheim, CA - 18,742
WM 17: The Reliant Astrodome; Houston, TX - 67,925
WM 18: Skydome (Rogers Centre); Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 68,237
WM 19: Safeco Field; Seattle, WA - 54,097
WM 20: Madison Square Garden; New York, NY - 18,500
WM 21: STAPLES Center; Los Angeles, CA - 20,193
WM 22: Allstate Arena; Chicago, IL - 17,159
WM 23: Ford Field; Detroit, MI - 80,109
WM 24: Citrus Bowl; Orlando, FL - 74,635
WM 25: Reliant Stadium; Houston, TX - 72,744
WM 26: University of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, AZ - 72,219
WM 27: Georgia Dome; Atlanta, GA - 71,617
WM 28: Sun Life Stadium; Miami, FL - TBA

Now i know arenas didn't have huge capacities in the "attitude era" but what i find remarkable about this is that in what we call the attitude era (roughly 1995-2003?) which will be Wrestlemanias 12-19 the average attendance was 35,575! its only really since 2007 that Wrestlemania attendances have been above the "expected" 60-70,000! but then we take the last 8 manias, 20-27 and the average attendance is 53,397, almost 20,000 more (on average) a year in what we are calling the "PG era"

My question is, why did it take so long for WWE to get attendances so big for their landmark event (23 years to get attendances consistantly above 70,000) in the 27 year history of mania, there have only been 11 that have exceeded 50,000.

Is it just me that finds this a remarkable statistic for the "biggest event in sports entertainment/professional wrestling"?

 

[tcapri87]

Really? It has EVERYTHING to do with where Wrestlemania was held. I'm pretty sure Wrestlemania will sell out no matter where it is held. Is was not until recently that they started holding Wrestlemania in large stadiums every year as opposed to scattered throughout the earlier years of Wrestlemania. But I am pretty sure ever since the first 2 or 3, no matter where Wrestlemania was going to be held it would sell out...
Has absolutely nothing to do with what era it was. (except maybe WM 11)

 

[Paralyzer Z]

YES! Orlando has had the largest wrestlemania attendance since 2008!

It really depends on how much the arena can hold. Wrestlemania WILL sell out anywhere in the world it just depends on where they are at. Many of those arenas could probably hold only 30,000 or less. recently we have gotten about 70,00 every year which is good for WWE.

 

[keehlnate]

Of course the attendance depends on how much capacity the arena could hold. Take a look at WM I and WM 20. Same venue and almost the same attendance.

 

[Jackal960]

Talking about the era that you are referring to as 35,000 people in average watching the biggest PPV live... I wish you had some figures of the attendance of weekly shows (Raw or Smackdown). You would find that opposed to 10,000 watching Raw and 3,000 watching Smackdown like it has been the case just recently, that era broke records for sold out arenas. And it was selling out for the weekly shows, not even a PPV. When you compare these two, it would be a bit unfair (to say the least) telling us it took so long for WWE to get attendances so big for WM. If 93,000 can fill an arena in 88, or 78,000 in 08, I am sure that they could have filled it in 98.

 

[Steve001]

Just wanted to point out that the WrestleMania III attendance that's been listed is the same fictional figure that WWE has been trumpeting for years!
The actual attendance was around 78 000 people. That is all.

 

[dansaun77]

good luck getting 70,000 into Madison Square Gardne or the Hartford Civiv Center. Wrestlemania was billed as 93, 173, but truth be known it was just over 78,000. WWE have a habit of inflating history.

IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE SIZE OF THE ARENA. Wrsetlemania 7 was supposed to be at Los Angeles Coliseum, seating capacity of near 100,000. Ticket sales were disgracefully poor due to the shoddy Hogan vs Slaughter feud and they had to move it to the LA Sports Arena, which was still curtained in areas.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

Wrsetlemania 7 was supposed to be at Los Angeles Coliseum, seating capacity of near 100,000. Ticket sales were disgracefully poor due to the shoddy Hogan vs Slaughter feud and they had to move it to the LA Sports Arena, which was still curtained in areas.

Oh, no, its wasn't moved because of low ticket sales, it was moved because of "threats made to Sgt. Slaughter's life"...

here's the thing, in the early 90's the Wrestling business took a nosedive of epic scale. With the demise of Jim Crockett Promotions the NWA was essentially dead. WCW was a joke being filmed out of a sound studio in Orlando and ran by idiots (sound familiar?). All of the territories were either out of business or closing their doors. And the business was finally starting to admit what it had been denying for over 50 years, that it was fake fighting. On top of that, the top company in the business was being plagued with rape and sexual harassment stories, and the owner was under federal investigation for distributing drugs, including to his top star who had spent the previous decade telling kids to "train, say their prayers and take their vitamins"... it was a really low point in the business all around.

by the time Vince was able to start rebuilding around '95 he pretty much had to start from scratch, and while he was doing that he was competing with a literal billionaire who was looking to do with his business what Vince had done ten years earlier, and who had more money to do so. all of his top stars were either already gone or where leaving throughout '95 and '96. all he was left with the Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker and an iffy Bret Hart who wasn't sure what he wanted to do, and who ultimately did leave. three great talents, but it took time to build up people like Austin, the Rock, Triple H, Mick Foley. It wasn't until mid '98 that the "attitude era" really started to catch on with people.

Its not fair to look at the gates from one show a year and use that to determine the success, or lack there of, of any particular "era". One of the things that helped make the "Attitude Era" what it was WAS the smaller venues. it was the entire atmosphere of a 15,000 seat, darkened area that you couldn't get in a giant 90,000 seat, open roofed stadium. its was the true embodiment of "less is more".

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Oh, no, its wasn't moved because of low ticket sales, it was moved because of "threats made to Sgt. Slaughter's life"...

I've always loved that excuse

If you look at the list of cities that hosted WM ... there's like one that's like the Bastard City that makes us go WTF?!?! They hosted WM here?

Yeah ... I'm pretty sure everyone was thinking about Hartford, CT. I have no idea what Vince was smoking when he held WM here. So you had Los Angels -> Indianpolis -> Las Vegas -> New Yor City -> then HARTFORD?

No disrecpect to Hartford but it really seemed like the odd man out.