WWE's Inflated Ticket Prices Are Here To Stay (WWE News)
TKO chief Mark Shapiro has some bad news for WWE fans and their pockets.
Bad news for anybody who has been priced out of attending WWE shows recently.
TKO president & chief operating officer Mark Shapiro was a recent guest at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston. There, Shapiro spoke freely about everything from dynamic ticket pricing strategies and the volume of live events WWE produces annually to upcoming PLE rights renewals and even some behind the scenes documentaries the company has planned.
The Wrestling Observer collated the best bits from Shapiro's appearance, including what he had to say about those ever-divisive ticket prices for attending episodes of Raw, SmackDown and all of WWE's major events like WrestleMania and SummerSlam.
Mark said that WWE's current ticket pricing model has a "tremendous upside". Naturally, that flies in the face of many fans who believe the promotion's pricing structure has been getting out of hand since they signed on under the TKO banner and aligned with UFC.
In short, there's next to no chance that top brass will revisit their current pricing model to make it more affordable to fans wishing to bag seats for shows coming to their area. The current dynamic pricing trend (which enables vendors to hike fees in real time depending on availability and/or demand) is pretty much here to stay.
Live Event Touring Cuts Will Continue
Shapiro also discussed WWE's diminishing live event touring schedule. The TKO chief defended management's decision to shave off approx 100 events from the calendar annually - he said WWE had gone from running around 300 events every year to somewhere in the region of 200, but called this a cut of 75% when it's actually less than that.
That's splitting hairs, because the real issue fans will care about here is Shapiro then going on to say that TKO/WWE will continue to make further touring cuts and prune further. He didn't, however, give an exact number they're aiming for, but this is obviously great news for tired, sore and well-travelled members of the WWE roster.
The days of working 4-5 matches per week are very much a thing of the past. Some fans will bemoan the lack of cheaper, family-friendly house show loops that visited smaller towns ill-suited to hosting TV. Those events offered a rare chance to see wrestlers relax and enjoy themselves without the pressure of hard cams and time limits.
Regarding negotiations with Peacock/NBC, Shapiro said there's a solid chance things will be renewed before the current deal lapses in March 2026. However, WWE isn't afraid to shop around and work with multiple partners. If you wanted to know Mark's opinion on a group splitting programming across multiple places, he added: "I can’t stand it".
It makes sense business wise though.
So, there you go. WWE's bloated ticket prices aren't changing any time soon, and the promotion could put on even less events annually going forwards as a general rule of thumb.