Confirming industry expectations prior to the April 7 event, WWE WrestleMania 29 will reportedly set the franchise’s all-time revenue record.
According to Variety, WWE is preparing to announce that WrestleMania 29 grossed $72 million between live event ticket and pay-per-view sales, up from the $67 million figure for WrestleMania 28 in Miami.
But pricing played a definite factor, as preliminary estimates reveal that the show, headlined by a rematch between The Rock and John Cena, drew 1.2 million buys, which is short of the all-time record.
Similar estimates after WrestleMania 28 anticipated 1.3 million buys for the show. That figure was revised down to 1.217 million in WWE’s quarterly earnings statement but then upgraded to 1.253 million, which made for a slight increase over the 1.25 million set by the Donald Trump-headlined WrestleMania 23.
As of right now, it appears that WWE cannot report the WrestleMania 29 buyrate as its best of all-time, but that could change as estimates transform into final data.
Update: WWE, as expected, issued a press release, noting:
WrestleMania 29, held Sunday, April 7 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, grossed in excess of $72 million, the highest grossing event in WWE history. In addition, WrestleMania 29 will once again exceed 1 million global pay-per-view buys and attracted a sold out crowd of 80,676 fans from all 50 states and 34 countries at MetLife Stadium.