A new report has claimed that AEW’s advance ticket sales for a number of upcoming shows are significantly down on the previous year.
While AEW President Tony Khan recently touted the success of AEW Grand Slam as the highest grossing AEW show to air on TBS and TNT, it’s not all good news for the company.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer has reported that ticket advances for October and into November “do not tell a good story.”
The upcoming October 5th episode of Dynamite in Washington, DC is at 2,265 tickets sold, while Rampage and Battle of the Belts two days later in the same building is at 1,988. Washington is being promoted as the anniversary of the first-ever Dynamite which sold out instantly, pulling in more than 14,000 fans.
Meltzer adds that the hope was the recent Grand Slam events would kick-start live business but that simply hasn’t happened.
Dynamite on October 12th in Toronto is all but sold out with 6,783 tickets sold, but Rampage a day later is down at 4,853. However, it should be noted that Rampage isn’t shown on Canadian television.
The following episode of Dynamite on Tuesday, October 18th in Cincinnati at the Heritage Bank Center is at 3,053. Meltzer adds that the figure is “not good.” The show is set to be headlined by Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Adam Page for the World Championship.
Rampage in Jacksonville, Florida on October 21st is at 2,250 tickets sold. Dynamite on October 26th in is at 2,217 which again is “way down” from the last show. Rampage in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Casino is at 3,768, and Dynamite on November 2nd in Baltimore is at 1,525. Meltzer comments that he is “shocked” at this figure.
However, the number for Rampage on November 4th Atlantic City, NJ, is even worse. Meltzer describes the figure of 776 as “brutal,” adding that the company did 5,500 paid and 5,900 in the building at the same venue in February. The show on November 9th in Boston is at 2,322, which is half of what AEW drew in the same building last time out.
Furthermore, the company have sold out every show in Boston “very quickly” previously. This particular show is scheduled to take place two and a half weeks before Survivor Series in the same city. The WWE staple is “pretty much sold out.”
The November 16th show in Bridgeport, CT is a 1,682 with Meltzer commenting that AEW “did around triple” that figure the last time they went to the same building. November 23rd in Chicago currently stands at 3,262 which is less than half of the night before Thanksgiving show in 2021 in the same arena which was an “immediate sell-out.”
With regard to Full Gear, Meltzer notes that 9,779 tickets have been sold, with a sell-out being “a little over 12,000.” 80% of all AEW pay-per-views to date have sold out on the first day, which Full Gear obviously did not. The report adds that while the show will likely come close to selling-out and be another $1 million gate, the fact it didn’t sell out on the first day is a “minor surprise.”