WrestleMania Makes Record $62 Million for Atlanta

Oct 24, 2011 - by Steve Gerweck

Press Release

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® announced today that WrestleMania XXVII generated $62.1 million in economic impact for the city of Atlanta, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation.

This is a new record for WrestleMania’s economic impact, and a $17 million increase over WrestleMania XXVI. WrestleMania XXVII also generated approximately $7.8 million in local, state and county taxes.

“We are proud to have partnered with an organization that not only helped significantly contribute to the economy of Atlanta, but also gave back to the community in a multitude of ways,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “WrestleMania Week brought tens of thousands of fans from across the world to our great city and furthered Atlanta’s reputation as one of the sports and entertainment capitals of the world. We look forward to the possibility of hosting a future WrestleMania.”

“WWE is thrilled that the city of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia were the recipients of the largest economic windfall to date for WrestleMania,” said John P. Saboor, Senior Vice President of Special Events for WWE. “We would like to thank Mayor Reed and all of the public and private sector partners in Atlanta for embracing WWE and our worldwide fans, and for helping create an exceptional outcome for WrestleMania XXVII.”

A capacity crowd of 71,617 fans from all 50 states and 30 countries attended WWE’s pop culture extravaganza this past April. Key highlights from the study included:

$62.1 million of direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by non-locals visiting specifically for WrestleMania XXVII.
75% of fans that attended WrestleMania were from outside the Atlanta area, with 61% staying three nights or more.
The economic impact derived from WrestleMania Week equated to the creation of 621 full-time jobs for the area.
52% of fans that attended WrestleMania were between the ages of 20 and 34, 21% were under the age of 20 and 20% were between the ages of 35 and 49.

“WrestleMania XXVII was a tremendous success and provided a positive financial impact on metro Atlanta,” said Dan Corso, Atlanta Sports Council Executive Director. “This is a noteworthy example of our city’s collaborative ability to recruit and successfully host major sporting events, and it hopefully bodes well for securing a future WrestleMania.”

Next year, WrestleMania XXVIII will take place Sunday, April 1 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL. The main event will feature John Cena® taking on The Rock® in an epic encounter. The event will be broadcast on pay-per-view, and viewed in more than 100 countries. Tickets go on sale Saturday, November 5 at 10 AM EST through all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000 .

Enigma Research Corporation is an international consulting firm which specializes in measuring the economic impact of special events. Enigma’s economists developed a customized model which converted expenditures into economic impact, employment created and taxes generated as a result of the event.

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE:WWE – News), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE:WWE – News) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.

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Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television distribution agreements; the need for continually developing creative and entertaining programming; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent McMahon; the conditions of the markets in which we compete and acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those markets; our exposure to bad debt risk; uncertainties relating to regulatory and litigation matters; risks resulting from the highly competitive nature of our markets; uncertainties associated with international markets; the importance of protecting our intellectual property and complying with the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with producing and travelling to and from our large live events, both domestically and internationally; the risk of accidents or injuries during our physically demanding events; risks relating to our film business and any new business initiative which we may undertake; risks relating to the large number of shares of common stock controlled by members of the McMahon family and the possibility of the sale of their stock by the McMahons or the perception of the possibility of such sales; the relatively small public float of our stock; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant.






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