The dust has truly settled on AEW’s first PPV since hitting TV, and we now have the official attendance numbers for AEW Full Gear.
The much hyped show drew in 8,500 fans to Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The arena has a total capacity of about 12,000 from what I was able to find. When you account for the stage stepup and gorillia postion needs of a wrestling show, this makes the attendance figure fairly impressive. It wasn’t quite a sell out given there was still some empty seats, but it bodes well for such a new promotion.
How Does This Stack Up Against Other PPV Attendance Numbers From AEW
8,500 is a middle range number for an AEW PPV at this point. Double Or Nothing drew around 12,000 fans to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Fyter Fest drew around 5,000 fans to the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, I was unable to find attendance numbers for Fight For The Fallen or All Out, but we know All Out was an early sell out. All Out sold out the Sears Center in Chicago in 15 minutes.
These are all very good numbers for a promotion who have just started this year, and I think what’s the biggest plus though, is that they’re consisently getting an audience like the NJPW G1 Special in Dallas had. Engaged and enthusiastic. So long as a crowd is loud and engaged the entire time, the size of the crowd doesn’t matter as much. Compare this to most WWE crowds lately who just seem to bored, AEW has rabid fans enjoying every moment of their show.
It’ll be interesting to see how AEW’s attendance figures evolve as the allure of a new company wears off, but if you want to get to an AEW show, get tickets early as they’re selling out frequently. Tony Khan confirmed they will be returning to Las Vegas for Double Or Nothing 2, to Chicago for All Out 2020, and there will be another PPV in early 2020. They also have plans to go to Canada (likely a city like Toronto or Montreal) and London next year, so there will be plenty of chances to see AEW live.
