WWE Surveys Fans On Returning To Live Events In Early 2021
In...January?!
Naturally, WWE has scaled back its live event schedule entirely in the wake of the ongoing pandemic.
After first promoting all televised broadcasts from the modified Performance Center, WWE introduced its ThunderDome concept, emanating from Orlando's Amway Center, just prior to SummerSlam. The move has benefitted SmackDown in particular, the numbers for which have stabilised and even grown when highlighted by the well-received Bayley Vs. Sasha Banks programme.
WWE is set to benefit from the crisis in a warped way; the live event loop had lost money for years, was outright labelled "antiquated" by Vince McMahon in the not too distant past, and was a revenue stream some analysts forecasted WWE to one day drop entirely even before the world as we know it changed.
All of which, in addition to heavy budget cuts, makes a recent survey issued to the Fan Council somewhat curious. Fans were asked "Assuming that a WWE live event were coming to a local venue (arena, stadium, etc.) between January 2021 and March 2021, how likely would you be to attend a WWE live event?"
This might all be very tentative and should not be interpreted as anything remotely definitive - particularly given the outrageous possibilities these surveys have thrown up over the years.
Nonetheless, the survey is consistent with reports that Vince McMahon is intent on proceeding with a back-to-business WrestleMania 37 event, and Vince never met a dollar that he didn't do his Keibler-makes-him-explode-in-the-chair face in front of.