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Post by flowercity on Sept 30, 2022 8:42:23 GMT -5
This week, Meltzer reported in the Observer that ticket sales for AEW do not tell a good story for the company. And when you look at the numbers, it is eye opening. Here are some examples…
Right now the Mox/Hangman title match in Cincinnati he 3,053 tickets out. The last time they were in the market they drew 6,800 people.
In Norfolk they have 2,217 tickets out. Last time in the market (a year ago) they had over 5,000 tickets.
Atlantic City has 776 tickets out. In February they had 5,900 people in the arena.
Some other quick hits: Bridgeport is a third of previous ticket sales in that building. Chicago the night before Thanksgiving is at half of last year’s show; 3,300 tickets. Even things like the Full Gear PPV are no longer instant sell outs which were a given for a long time.
This has to be a major concern for Tony. I’m not saying AEW is going to die or anything but ticket sales are a major indicator of how hot a product is. I am obsessed with the ticket sales of wrestling and thought I noticed this trend, but Dave was able to put it in terms that makes it obvious. Something is up.
I first noticed the slowing of ticket sales after CM Punk got hurt in Los Angeles. After that, the initial sells were less and never gained their momentum. He was easily their biggest draw from a live event perspective. He didn’t even return for long enough to bump these shows either. I wonder if repercussions from the backstage brawl at All Out are influenced by this. A lot harder to get rid of someone who brings in so much money.
Some may want to point to the Elite being gone as a factor, but I am very skeptical of that being the case. A lot of these shows were announced while they were still there. They were heavy parts of the on sale advertisements.
As much as a tv draw (which really is the most important thing) MJF is, he doesn’t seem to make a dent in ticket sales.
Curious to see if they can rebound quickly, or is it going to be a process of figuring out how to get back those big live crowds that AEW hung their hat on for a long time. It definitely is something that should be a cause for concern and monitored.
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Facetious
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Post by Facetious on Sept 30, 2022 8:48:09 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure a lot of this is due to the fact that they tour the same 12 cities all year round. Chicago had 2 PPVs within 8 weeks and has had like... 7 shows this year. Gas prices, cost of living and inflation going up, and ticket prices with concessions and parking make it hard to constantly go to the shows even if you're a diehard.
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Post by flowercity on Sept 30, 2022 8:50:24 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure a lot of this is due to the fact that they tour the same 12 cities all year round. Chicago had 2 PPVs within 8 weeks and has had like... 7 shows this year. Gas prices, cost of living and inflation going up, and ticket prices with concessions and parking make it hard to constantly go to the shows even if you're a diehard. A lot of these shows are a year removed from the previous one. And I don’t really buy the whole cost of living thing seeing as how WWE ticket sales are way up. |
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Sept 30, 2022 8:53:41 GMT -5
The date of that AC show is not ideal.
AC is closer to Philly than NYC, but they still get some of those fans. That said, here's a look at what's upcoming in the northeast:
AEW just ran Philly, WWE runs Philly next week and WWE runs Barclays on October 10. AEW runs Newark for two nights in November. Barclays/Newark are way easier to get to for most NYC fans than Atlantic City. Philly fans will probably get what they need out of AEW this week and WWE next week. Unless that Rampage is stacked, I get why they're not selling.
Maybe they got a really good deal on the arena and it makes sense either way, but I still think they need to broaden their horizons.
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Post by EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese on Sept 30, 2022 8:54:14 GMT -5
I think the main thing is that they need to run a few different areas for a while. They seem to rotate between the northeast (New York/Pennsylvania), midwest (Illinois/Ohio/Minnesota), Georgia and Florida on a regular basis, and there could be a bit of oversaturation of the market in that regard. And that’s even before you factor in what WWE do in the same regions.
Running in Seattle is a good move. Running in Canada is a great move. They just need to mix it up a bit better.
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Post by flowercity on Sept 30, 2022 8:55:37 GMT -5
I think the main thing is that they need to run a few different areas for a while. They seem to rotate between the northeast (New York/Pennsylvania), midwest (Illinois/Ohio/Minnesota), Georgia and Florida on a regular basis, and there could be a bit of oversaturation of the market in that regard. Running in Seattle is a good move. Running in Canada is a great move. They just need to mix it up a bit better. Even those shows aren’t doing great. First time in the Seattle market and they have moved only 6k tickets. Long ways removed from huge gates first time in the market. Plus, they can’t even sell out the second Canadian show in a small building. |
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Post by polarbearpete on Sept 30, 2022 9:10:21 GMT -5
Once everyone in a market has had a chance to go to one AEW event, it becomes harder to move as many tickets in subsequent trips unless the product is hot, or there is a particular attraction drawing them in.
Seeing Punk would certainly count as an attraction so I can see why him being gone can be problematic. They may be better off trying for some different areas that they have not been to yet or that they’ve only been once before.
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Post by raymondo316 on Sept 30, 2022 9:22:36 GMT -5
They've still yet to run San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Portland, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Tampa etc
Yet some places are already on their 5th or 6th show, Tony really needs to change things up.
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Hypnosis
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Post by Hypnosis on Sept 30, 2022 9:32:12 GMT -5
They've still yet to run San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Portland, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Tampa etc Yet some places are already on their 5th or 6th show, Tony really needs to change things up. I think there have been too many AEW shows around the east coast and midwest, so going further to the west and up north more often could help. Also, the All Out media scrum incident was probably another factor like the OP said. |
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Sept 30, 2022 9:34:52 GMT -5
They keep running the same places, that's not good to keep sales up.
From what's been reported, Seattle's already sold 6,000 tickets for January. That's months away and that's before they position Bryan and Darby for big matches at the show. That's f***ing great. They gotta go to more places they never hit, or hit very rarely.
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Post by raymondo316 on Sept 30, 2022 9:41:14 GMT -5
I really don't understand why you book a show for Toronto and then the next week it's back to somewhere they've already ran multiple times. If you're going to Canada also do shows in Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and London.
Places you've never been before
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lucas_lee
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Post by lucas_lee on Sept 30, 2022 9:43:21 GMT -5
Yeah it was good in the first phase of AEW to run the same spots it builds a fanbase. But now they should expand to other parts of the US like the west coast and Canada. Canada loves its wrestling
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Post by lavelleuk22 on Sept 30, 2022 9:48:51 GMT -5
That's actually really disappointing to hear. Are prices stupidly high?
I know money is tight for people these days and America is huge, so just being in Chicago csn still place you hours away from a Chicago event, but surely if you're a wrestling fan you'd go to an AEW show?
Although saying that, I only really enjoyed independent shows if I was front row, and wouldn't travel 3 or 4 hours to go to an event, so who am I to judge lol
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Convoy
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Post by Convoy on Sept 30, 2022 9:56:45 GMT -5
Can only speak for myself, but an upcoming event will be nearby, and I’ve already made the decision not to go. Money, travel and timing do not factor into it - I am just less interested in the company at this point as opposed to a year ago. Punk not being there is not a factor either, as I thought his return run was not great overall (and I have no interest in seeing him wrestle ever again because of it). The Elite potentially not being there does factor in a bit.
Things could change, but I’d have to think at least some people feel the same way.
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Mecca
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Post by Mecca on Sept 30, 2022 9:56:50 GMT -5
I really don't understand why you book a show for Toronto and then the next week it's back to somewhere they've already ran multiple times. If you're going to Canada also do shows in Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and London. Places you've never been before It's because they don't run a Canadian tour like say WWE would, they run 1 night and everyone goes home. Their model isn't hey everyone is putting in 4 days a week like WWE's so that makes doing a Canadian loop no matter to them, everyone is going home for a week afterwards either way. |
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Mecca
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Post by Mecca on Sept 30, 2022 9:58:37 GMT -5
That's actually really disappointing to hear. Are prices stupidly high? I know money is tight for people these days and America is huge, so just being in Chicago csn still place you hours away from a Chicago event, but surely if you're a wrestling fan you'd go to an AEW show? Although saying that, I only really enjoyed independent shows if I was front row, and wouldn't travel 3 or 4 hours to go to an event, so who am I to judge lol I think many things factor in, their prices are generally pretty reasonable but so are a lot of the WWE tickets. If they are both running areas close together then you are gonna see some problems. WWE is the name everyone knows, if you have kids most parents are far more ok with WWE than AEW. There's also enough overlap in the fandoms that if AEW hits an area frequently and WWE comes too most people probably like wrestling in general and most can't afford to go to every show. |
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Post by raymondo316 on Sept 30, 2022 10:01:26 GMT -5
Not coming to the UK this summer was also a missed opportunity.
With Tony seemingly refusing to run anywhere but the stadium his family owns, it means they now won't be coming till summer 2023 at the earliest. |
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 30, 2022 10:27:07 GMT -5
I’m not sure going to new cities is a simple matter of “just go here!”; there are arena deals to negotiate, demos to follow, and a lot of logistics that go into things like that.
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Post by flowercity on Sept 30, 2022 10:42:00 GMT -5
I’m not sure going to new cities is a simple matter of “just go here!”; there are arena deals to negotiate, demos to follow, and a lot of logistics that go into things like that. Definitely. I think this is way more of a factor of just being cold than it is running the same places. Even the new markets are not doing well! That Seattle number is troubling. |
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Post by tntchamp on Sept 30, 2022 10:44:54 GMT -5
I do feel that running the same cities is probably not doing AEW any good will at all and it's not surprise that the cities they haven't frequent have done far better sales. TBH though too the product kind of feels a little stagnant right now and not exactly the most exciting shows. Like it's not horrible or anything but there shows have been hit or miss the last few weeks. For better or worse losing Punk and Omega did not help and kind of creates a void despite how hard Mox seems to be trying to fill.
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