The Real Attendance Figure For WWE's Royal Rumble 2020 Revealed

42,715 was a bloated number...

by Jamie Kennedy
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Delaywaves [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]/WWE

WWE announced a new attendance record for Minute Maid Park last weekend at the 2020 Royal Rumble, but Dave Meltzer wrote in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the number was inflated.

Dave said the actual attendance in Houston was closer to 36,000.

The Observer did also report that the stadium was legit sold out for the Rumble; WWE turned some fans away from the gates on the day of the show, and the 36,000 number is still in line to be one of the bigger attendances for a pro wrestling event all year.

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Night one of New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 14 (40,008) on 4 January was higher, but WWE can be proud of drawing such a big crowd, and the number bodes well for the Rumble going forwards. Obviously, WrestleMania 36 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (which has a capacity of over 65,000 and is expandable to approx 75,000 for wrestling) will smash the Rumble's attendance.

WWE's shows in Saudi Arabia will do extremely well too.

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The longstanding tradition of inflating attendance numbers continues in WWE. It's almost charming at this point.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.