The 2300 Arena, a building still referred to by most in wrestling as the ECW Arena, is in danger of closing due to the impact of Covid-19.
The building, which first opened in 1993 and was the regular home for ECW until the promotion closed its doors in 2001, has become of of wrestling’s Meccas for fans and wrestlers alike.
Much like Japan’s Korakuen Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Stadium and New York’s Madison Square Garden, it is a building every fan wants to watch wrestling in and every wrestler wants to tick off their bucket list and perform in.
The building was set to play host to MLW’s Battle Riot III on December 5 but the event has been postponed due to the pandemic and rescheduled for April 10 2021, but that date is now in jeopardy as a result of this news.
But the building has been hit hard by the pandemic and the lack of bookings, which the owners of the facility says has hit them “extraordinarily hard” and have described 2020 as “obviously our most difficult year”.
In an effort to save the building from going out of business, and thus ending a long-lasting modern wrestling dynasty, a GoFundMe has been launched asking for $75,000 in donations to keep them afloat.
The organisers behind the campaign wrote as following:
THE TIME IS NOW: HELP US STAND TALL
It is with a heavy heart that the 2300 Arena is asking for help from our friends, family, and supporters, with our hat in hand when it counts the most. We need your support to stay afloat this winter and continue our 13-year legacy.
This has obviously been our most difficult year – Covid-19 has hit us extraordinarily hard due to the nature of our business.
OUR HISTORY
The 2300 Arena is an independently owned sports & entertainment venue located in the heart of South Philadelphia. Many of you know us from decades ago when we were called The “World Famous” ECW Arena. You have grown with us during our most transformative years where we have taken professional wrestling, boxing, MMA & jiu-jitsu to new levels of excellence in live sports and entertainment. Even more recently, we successfully expanded to host live music, food festivals, and corporate & private events, spanning galas and weddings. 2300 Arena has truly become a state-of-the-art entertainment venue now entering its 13th year of operations.
COVID-19 AND THE IMPACT ON 2300 ARENA
Since March, we held on tightly to overcome a barrage of never-ending obstacles, surviving by putting our heads down and going to work with the mindset to refuse defeat. We have overcome what used to seem like the impossible, reconceptualizing 2300 over and over again until we got it right, and four weeks ago were finally given the opportunity to open our doors and we followed all Covid-19 protocols including the 25% capacity rule of our 1,200-capacity space, limiting us to 300 indoors.
There was no lack of interest. Our calendars were booked within days. Promoters were eager to get back to work along with athletes and entertainers excited for the chance to perform again. This short-lived success thus far was all thanks to our client and employee dedication and support, and mostly to our loyal guests. It was an amazing feeling to see people walk through front doors again reminding us it was all worth it.
We have looked over the past four weeks of operations at “reduced capacity” with a bare minimum of expectations in order to survive. We anticipate this winter to be our last hurdle to get over between the long dark winter months eliminating our outside capacity and the currant six-week shut down before we can once again open our doors next season and thrive. We see the light at the end of the tunnel and have no doubt that we can rebound from all of this.
If you are able to support the arena, please visit the GoFundMe campaign here.