The second half of 2021 is a fascinating time to look at domestic pro wrestling attendance and live events outside of the WWE and AEW.
As promotions emerged with regular shows and tapings in what was thought to be the tail end of COVID-19 but in some parts of the country, it continues to be a major challenge and the Omicron variant was just around the corner
With a re-emergence of live events, this half year should serve as a baseline for future comparison as opposed to a comparison to a past that was very different.
Listen to “Episode 56 – U.S. Pro Wrestling Live Event Analysis” on Spreaker.Game Changer Wrestling emerged as the hottest live event draw for a promotion of its size
In tracking 22 events (one that was co-promoted with Black Label Pro), 11 shows were sellouts. The company promoted coast to coast and its 4 shows in the Los Angeles market were pre-sellouts as well as 2 shows in Detroit. The Detroit shows sold out early enough that the company booked a more ambitious venue in 2022, Harpos.
Two shows had reported attendances above 1,000: 7/24 in Atlantic City at the Showboat Hotel 1,200. 9/4 Hoffman Estates at the Grand Sports Arena 1,450.
The company also established regular touring swings in Texas (Houston, Dallas).
Outside of the confines of the period of this report, GCW has an advance sellout of 2,025 in the Hammerstein Ballroom on 1/23/22 to look forward to.
The NWA builds back
The 4 shot run of the NWA at the site of the historic Chase Hotel has to be considered a big win. The 73rd anniversary show on 8/29 was sold out at 856 tickets and the EMPOWER show on the 28th was nearly sold out at 843 tickets (98%). The two television tapings had a modest setup with 340 and 323 tickets distributed on the subsequent days.
The company co-promoted a show with Tried & True in Valor Hall in Oak Grove, KY on October 24th that drew 382 (88% capacity).
A multi-day swing in Atlanta included Hard Times 2 and a taping for the new Youtube program, NWA USA. The company was restricted in capacity of 90, with the ppv necessitating refunds to ticket holders beyond the 90 restriction. The NWA USA taping was reported as 70 in attendance.
New Japan’s drawing ability in the U.S. still a question mark
New Japan ran 9 domestic shows in the U.S. during the second half of 2021.
The Torch at the LA Coliseum show on 8/14 distributed 99% of the tickets representing 2,240. This may have been the most tickets sold for a non WWE-AEW domestic event in 2021. The television taping in Long Beach, CA sold out with 114 tickets distributed plus General Admission.
The two shows in Garland, TX, a mid-market stronghold for AEW, did not yield good results for New Japan. The 9/25 distributed 903 tickets. It appears more than half the tickets were distributed the day of the show on 9/25, so one might consider if tickets were given away or there was a particularly effective late advertising campaign or significant walk up purchases. 9/26 distributed 841 tickets as of 5pm on the day of the show, significantly up from 443 tickets just a few days prior.
A swing through the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on 10/16 and 10/17 yielded 561 and 531, respectively, according to WrestleTix. The Observer and Cagematch listed around 700 for these shows.
A swing in California in November on 11/13 and 11/15, yielded 1,548 in San Jose and 858 in the Riverside Municipal Auditorium.
A small taping was done in the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles on 12/9. A total attendance was not available for the venue that can hold up to 1,200 but the 1st row and ‘lobby standing’ were sold out with a ‘waiting list’ appearing on the ticket sales page.
NEW continued to draw for big shows in warmer weather, celebrates anniversary
In the second half of 2021 (one a partnership with ICW), NEW drew over 1,000 for at least 2 shows, possibly 4.
On 7/9 in Rostaver, PA (co-promoted with ICW), the Post Gazette reported an attendance of 700, whereas the Observer listed 1,700.
A show in Eastwood Field in Niles, OH drew 1,978 and the Anniversary show in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center on 8/14 drew 1,518 (84% capacity). Due only to the promotion’s track record, the anniversary show may have been a modest disappointment in not selling out.
Two additional shows, one in Waterbury on 7/17 and one in Bethany on 9/11, had 260 and 205 tickets distributed.
The 4th quarter (October-December) is traditionally a less ambitious time for NEW. There were several shows in Bethany, CT, most notably 205 at the NEW Arena (representing 73% of the tickets put on sale).
On 10/2 in Danbury, I hand counted the ticket sales page to represent 610 tickets. However the Observer reported 1,210 fans and 1,174 paid- a number not achievable based on what I saw on the ticket map.
Ring of Honor struggles at the gate, cautiously runs some shows with fans and announces a reimaging
On 7/11, ROH ran in the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Area. The building was set up for social distancing and WrestleTix estimated a capacity of 700, with 419 in attendance. The Observer listed 1,200 in attendance.
ROH ran a double shot at the 2300 Arena on 8/20, 8/21 drawing 390, 482 according to WrestleTix. The Observer reported the same number for paid on 8/21 but that 550 were in attendance.
ROH has attempted to run Death Before Dishonor in Lakeland, FL but it was canceled for COVID reasons. A hand count showed that only about 150 tickets had been sold prior to the cancellation. ROH instead returned to the 2300 Arena and drew 372 on 9/12.
In the 4th quarter, the company returned to empty arena tapings outside of Final Battle. Prior to Final Battle, the company announced time off in 2022 to reimagine itself, released contracted wrestlers and announced a potential show over WrestleMania weekend in the Dallas market.
Final Battle in Baltimore, MD drew 1,620, a significant increase over July 11th’s 419 attendees. WrestleTix reported that Sinclair employees were offered up to 4 free tickets.
IMPACT & its modest wins
IMPACT remained in Nashville in the third quarter but allowed fans into Skyway Studios. Slammiversary was a quick sellout on 7/17 with 180 in attendance. A nice ‘win’ for the company.
The Observer reported that tapings on 7/18, 7/19 also had 180 in attendance but there was no distinction between the two tapings per day. My own check just prior showed that one could buy multiple tickets each day.
In the 4th quarter, IMPACT spent most of its time in Las Vegas. It ran a triple shot from October 23-25th with Bound for Glory reported as a sell out of 900 fans. Unconfirmed, I received a tweet that there was an advertisement for seat fillers/extras that night.
As of this writing, it appears that the 12/18 show at the Davis Arena in Louisville, KY will sell out its 137 seats (132 had been sold) and has General Admission seats also available.
MLW: Philly X3, shifts Dallas
In a show long rescheduled due to the pandemic, MLW was completely sold out at the 2300 Arena on 7/10/21. The Observer listed it as “the usual sellout number” – but the actual number was not available. Generally, the building’s maximum capacity is listed as 1,300 with a Battleground sellout in the venue listed as 900.
The show planned for Dallas on 9/11 was canceled for COVID reasons. It had distributed 508 of 512 reserved tickets plus GA prior to cancellation. The promotion will return to the city at least twice in 2022, this time at Gilleys.
The promotion ran the 2300 Arena two more times in the 4th quarter, with 550 on October 2nd and 675 on November 6th reported.
The co-promotion with THE CRASH took place outside the U.S. and is left out of this report.
Other shows drawing 1,000+
Outside of an unknown true attendance for HECHO En MEXICO (7/31 in Hidalgo, TX on 7/31), the following shows were reported as drawing 1,000+ for shows not already mentioned above:
- Great Lakes Championship Wrestling in Waukesha, WI drew 2,100 at the Waukesha County Expo Center on 12/4
- Mucha Lucha in Norcross, GA drew 1,500 at Espacio Discoteque on 10/10
- WRESTLECADE in Winston-Salem, NC drew 1,200 in the Benton Convention Center on 11/26
- PCW ULTRA in Wilmington, CA drew 1,000 at ILWU Memorial Hall on 10/23
Overall non-WWE/AEW Domestic Attendance Average
In tracking 188 shows, 84 (44%) were reported as sold out (or nearly).
There was an attendance available for 140 of the 188 shows, for an average of 395 in attendance per show.
Given that there were probably 10-15x shows domestically (depending on how quickly independent wrestling is emerging from the pandemic and running with fans), this is just a snapshot and shouldn’t be applied to any trend overall or meant in any way as a representative sample.
Additionally, Georgia Wrestling History provides several local results per week so there is a skewing based on the volume of small Georgia shows.
However, using the same methodology in future years may yield some interesting results.
Sourcing/Credit:
In addition to confidence in my own abilities to hand count ticket maps, credit is due to WrestleTix, The Wrestling Observer, Cagematch, PWInsider, The Wrestling Estate, Georgia Wrestling History and local media coverage in which attendance figures were provided.
Note: All information provided was to the best of my knowledge. Any factual errors are unintentional and will be corrected in future editions. Please reach out at any time with a concern or correction.