World Wrestling Entertainment’s 31st annual WrestleMania event takes place Sunday night from Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in Santa Clara, Calif. It is the first WrestleMania ever held in the Bay Area and only the sixth to take place in an open-air venue (the forecast is 75 degrees and sunny).
WWE boss Vince McMahon told the San Jose Mercury News when the event was first announced in December 2013 that WrestleMania would, “rival, if not supersede, the Super Bowl,” which will be hosted by Levi’s next year. Legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan says WrestleMania is like “the Super Bowl, but times 1,000.”
The WWE boss is set to put on another massive show with this year’s WrestleMania. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
This year’s card features nine matches highlighted by the WWE World Heavyweight Championship battle between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. Other matches include: Sting vs. Triple H; AJ Lee and Paige vs. the Bella Twins; John Cena vs. Rusev; The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt; Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins; the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal; and four-way tag team and ladder bouts.
This year’s WrestleMania is the first to feature a logo instead of a number designating the chronological order of WrestleManias. The 31 has been replaced by red “play” button logo which McMahon says represents the region’s technical prowess.
WWE might have dropped the numbers from its biggest event, but here are some numbers you need to know regarding WrestleMania and the WWE.
-130: Betting on scripted programming would seem to be a ridiculous proposition, but you can bet on WWE bouts. Reigns was the heavy favorite in the title bout before this week, but Lesnar is now the slight favorite after announcing Tuesday his UFC career was over and he re-signed with WWE. A $130 bet on Lesnar wins $100, while a $110 bet on Reigns is worth $100. Sting, The Undertaker and Cena are all heavy favorites in their matches.
$9.99: Monthly cost for the WWE Network. The company dropped its original six-month commitment and now subscribers can go month-to-month.
21: Straight victories at WrestleMania by The Undertaker before losing last year to Lesnar.
34%: Year-to-date performance of WWE’s stock price, although it is down 43% over the last 12-months.
$35-1,000: List price of tickets for WrestleMania.
50: Age of The Undertaker, who joined WWE in 1990 and is its longest-tenured performer.
52%: Vince McMahon’s stake in WWE.
$59.99: Cost of WrestleMania on PPV for those without a subscription to the WWE Network. DirecTV and Dish Network will not carry the event due to their disapproval of the WWE Network.
$90: lowest price for a ticket on the secondary market, according to StubHub.
175: Countries where WrestleMania is available
$476: The average price of tickets on the secondary market in early March says TipIQ.
75,167: Attendance for WrestleMania in 2014. The record attendance was 93,173 for WrestleMania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich, in 1987. The record is expected to be challenged next year when the WWE invades Jerry Jones’ AT&T T -0.21% Stadium.
690,000: Worldwide PPV buys for WrestleMania 30, including 339,000 from outside North America.
1 million: WWE Network subscribers as of January.
$2.8 million: Total 2014 earnings for Triple H, who is Paul Levesque around WWE headquarters where he serves as VP of talent, live events and creative. He earned $1.1 million as a WWE exec and $1.65 million in the ring. Learn more about what WWE wrestlers get paid here.
$10.9 million: Ticket revenue for WrestleMania 30, which broke the Mercedes-Benz Superdome’s record for the highest-grossing entertainment event.
35.7 million: John Cena’s Facebook fans, which ranks sixth among all athletes behind only global soccer legends Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, David Beckham and fellow wrestler Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock.
$142 million: Economic impact for the New Orleans area for WrestleMania 30, according to a study by Enigma Research Corp.
$543 million: WWE’s revenue in 2014.
$950 million: Vince McMahon’s estimated net worth after peaking 12 months ago at $1.6 billion.
$1.2 billion: Cost of Levi’s Stadium, which opened in 2014.
4.2 billion: Video views over the last 12 months of WWE content on YouTube. WWE on YouTube has 5.2 million subscribers, more than MLB, NFL, NHL, ESPN, NASCAR, MLS and NBC Sports combined.
