WWE lies about their attendance figures. To people in the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) this shouldn't come as a surprise. During Wrestlemania they announce an attendance number during the show, and then maybe a week or so later, you get the real attendance figure. Dave Meltzer is usually the guy depended on to give the true attendance figures. There has been some debate, though, about how accurate Meltzer is. Many want to believe the WWE"s attendance figures, or at the least want to believe that the real attendance is higher than the number Meltzer gives. I trust Meltzer, but I decided to look at some numbers, to see what I can figure about Wrestlemania attendance figures. Using the WWE's Key Performance Indicators (KPI), I will make some estimates on the WWE's attendance for Wrestlemania, or at least their paid attendance
First let's look at Wrestlemania 30. It happened during the second quarter of 2014. In that quarter there were 54 shows with a listed average of 7,000. Not counting Wrestlemania, the 53 other shows have an average attendance of about 6,000. Those numbers are obviously rounded, but if I were to use those numbers to estimate the attendance for Wrestlemania 30, it would be 60,000, but that could just be paid attendance. Still the numbers are rounded. Let's say they are rounding to the nearest hundred. a 7000 average can represent an average just under 7050, or as low as 6950. The 6000 average could represent a number just under 6050, or as low as 5950. I wanted to come up with high, and low estimates. I did the same for my Wrestlemania 31 estimates
Quarter Q. Avg/shows Avg. w/o mania/shows Estimate High Est. Low
Wrestlemania 30 2014Q2 7000/54 6,000/53 60,000 65,349 54,651
Wrestlemania 31 2015Q1 7400/73 6,700/72 57,800 65,049 50,551
The announced attendance for Wrestlemania 30 was 75,167, but the real attendance was around 65,000. If you look at my estimate as representing paid attendance, that 65,000 number makes sense. In terms of Wrestlemania 31, announced attendance was 76,976, real attendance was around 67,000. That 67,000 number makes a lot more sense than the 76,976 number when you look at my estimates based on the WWE's own data.
WWE KPI
http://corporate.wwe.com/~/media/Files/W/WWE/documents/events/revised-kpi-measures-final.pdf
