Lately, All Elite Wrestling has hit a bit of a snag. Ticket sales have plummeted, and TV ratings are slowly following – showing that the honeymoon period for the rising brand in professional wrestling is all but over. Since 2019, AEW has really focused on a few key markets in the United States for their shows – which is now seeing dwindling returns. However, Tony Khan feels their focus on running shows in the Northeast has paid off all the same.
Tony Khan Feels AEW’s Focus On The Northeast Has Saved Them Money In The Long Run
During the recent AEW Full Gear media call, Tony Khan would have the following to say about AEW’s touring successes.
“As far as running here in the New York/New Jersey area, specifically in New Jersey in Newark at the Prudential Center, there are fans from the Tri-State area. We set up shows here and had Grand Slam, which was one of our biggest TV events of the year at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has been an amazing venue for us. Then of course AEW Full Gear, this show Saturday night, which is such a stacked event. They’ve both been huge financial successes.
From a live event standpoint and a commercial standpoint, I expect Full Gear will be a big success on Saturday night. We hit over a million dollars in ticket sales for [the event at] Arthur Ashe Stadium and we’re closing in on over a million dollar in sales here. Frankly, there were major cost savings that people might not think about in routing everything mostly in the Northeast and that’s why there has been so many shows in the Northeast recently because we’ve saved million of dollars between Grand Slam and Full Gear, which were both big financial successes and million dollar tent pole shows.
We saved millions of dollars in between those shows by routing everything. Now moving West, I’m really excited to move the show West too.”
Canada Show Showed AEW Has Fans Ready To Buy Tickets, If They Haven’t Had An AEW Show Recently
The most recent episode of AEW Dynamite had many fans noting the arena was shockingly empty. This can be explained by it being the fourth time AEW has run a show in Connecticut this year – having been there for a live episode of AEW Rampage on October 28th. There is proof that running fresh markets sells tickets, with their Canadian debut being a sell out.
In 2023, it’s expected that AEW will really broaden their scope of shows. This is a role that Jeff Jarrett was brought into the company to do – with him having experience running events, and connections with arenas all across the country. AEW have already announced their first show in the UK – set to come in Spring 2023.
Can AEW turn their ticket sales around? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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