WWE’s announcement that WrestleMania 27 broke the “entertainment” crowd record at the Georgia Dome was widely-panned at the time, and new information only makes it look more suspect.
There was some initial eye-rolling over the fact that WWE classified itself as an “entertainment” event to make the claim of record-setting attendance with 71,617. WWE’s announcement made it very clear that there were sporting events that did better in the building.
Even there, surprise emerged over the fact that WWE did not simply fudge the number by a few thousand to claim that it had, in fact, set the building record. WWE has been accused of doing this for past WrestleMania events (the 93,173 attendees for WrestleMania III, for instance, is widely panned as a “worked” number).
Worse, however, is a new development, which suggests that a Backstreet Boys show in 2000, an “entertainment” event, actually drew a larger crowd. While WWE’s press release claimed the show only did 65,658 in attendance, a Billboard piece on the top US concert draws of all-time says the boy band garnered 73,337 fans. It is unclear what is causing that disparity.
From a gate perspective, WWE’s $6.6 million gross for WrestleMania, however, easily trumped the $2.8 million for BSB.
