10 Ways WWE Can Guarantee Royal Rumble 2017 Sell-Out

Many an eyebrow was raised when WWE announced that the 2017 Royal Rumble would take place at the San Antonio Alamodome. They’ve used the 65,000-capacity stadium before, and a mammoth 60,477 crowd filled the building for the 1997 Rumble, but 2016 hasn’t exactly been a vintage year for WWE in terms of viewership.

Raw’s ratings hit an all-time low in September, and while they appear to be back on the upswing, they still sit below 3 million viewers. SummerSlam and Survivor Series, the company’s last two inter-brand events, drew 16 and 17 thousand fans respectively, albeit in much smaller buildings. The Rumble might be one of the year’s biggest events, but WWE have a tough task ahead of them to attract an attendance that’s even halfway credible.

Cynics presume that the event will be a night of empty seats and disappointments. There’s no doubt that booking the Alamodome is a highly ambitious move, but is filling it a lost cause? Absolutely not.

Last year’s Rumble sold-out in just 30 minutes, and while 2016’s venue was a fraction of this year’s size, the event retains its lustre as a special attraction. WWE will need to step things up with a heavy marketing campaign and an improved televised product, but they’re off to a great start with the past week’s Raw & SmackDown, and if the stars align perfectly, WWE can pull this off.

Here are 10 ways WWE can guarantee a Royal Rumble 2017 sell-out.

It goes without saying that WWE are going to go have to into promotional overdrive to have any hope of filling the Alamodome. They must go all-in on the Rumble once December’s TLC and Roadblock events are out of the way, and embark on the kind of advertising campaign usually reserved for WrestleMania. This must feel like one of the year’s most important events for it to be a success, and WWE can’t afford to get complacent.

WWE must do more than air a bunch of commercials, however. Fans are already guaranteed four hours of action plus whatever happens on the Kickoff Show for their tickets, but WWE can prevent empty seats through a number of tactics. Reduced prices, discounts for bulk buying, and perhaps a WrestleMania-esque Fan Axxess event would work wonders to drag people away from their couches and into the arena.

For all their other failings, this is one department where WWE excel. They’ll no doubt add countless bells and whistles to their Rumble ticket deals as we get closer to the event, and they’ve always been the best in the business at producing promotional material and A+ video packages. The marketing department are going to more than earn their salaries throughout December and January, that’s for sure.