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Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Mar. 16) for WrestleMania 37. We don’t yet have a complete picture of what WWE’s got planned for their return to performing in front of live fans, but we’re starting to get a pretty good idea of what they’re shooting for.
Reports indicate they’re hoping to fill Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium to approximately 75% capacity. The venue says it can hold 65,890 people, so that would put them in the range of 45 - 50K fans. And if they succeed at even the lower end of that scale, that would make the April 10 - 11 events the most attended since the pandemic began in March of 2020.
Jon Alba spelled it out over the weekend:
I have reached out to the Tampa Bay Sports Authority, which manages Raymond James Stadium, but have yet to hear back. Tickets are on-sale 3/16, though it hasn’t publicly been said how many will be available. #WWE
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) March 14, 2021
The Texas Rangers have clearance to fill their stadium with about 40k to start the season (right around the same time as WrestleMania). Daytona International Speedway officials estimated to me Daytona 500 attendance was in the 25k-30k range. So this would be biggest. #WWE
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) March 14, 2021
The Super Bowl was held at Raymond James in February, and the NFL got 25K in the stadium for the game. 7,500 of those were vaccinated healthcare workers; WWE has not officially announced any details regarding a similar plan, to this point only stating they are “coordinating with local partners and government officials regarding safety protocols for WrestleMania and will share details in the coming weeks.”
Assuming the goal is to be able to claim the largest pandemic era audience - and seeing how proud WWE remains of being the first mass gathering after 9/11, I think that’s a safe assumption - I wouldn’t be surprised if we learn they have plans to provide free or reduced price admission to front line workers or something similar. Even for a popular event like ‘Mania, and in a wide open state like Florida, getting tens of thousands of people to pay hundreds of dollars for tickets - and requiring them to buy them in lots of six - may be a challenge.
We’ll find out soon enough.