TKO President Criticises Vince McMahon's Pricing Of WWE Tickets

Vince McMahon's former pricing of WWE tickets has been criticised by TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro, who noted that McMahon "wasn’t totally focused on maxing the opportunity."

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, Mark Shapiro said:

"WWE is not where the UFC is yet on ticket yields. We have our work to do there. We’ve seen a meaningful increase, as evidenced by the 59% margin we did in the second quarter. Ticket sales and site fees play a big part in driving that. We know we have more room to go. Why do we know that? UFC is breaking records everywhere they go. We know we have a lot of room there because Vince McMahon was primarily pricing tickets for families and wasn't totally focused on maxing the opportunity there. We see what we can do with the UFC and we're replicating that in terms of ticket yield and advance sales when it comes to OnLocation on the WWE side. It’s really working out well."

'Ticket yield' is corporate speak for the average revenue generated per ticket. The price of WWE tickets has increased dramatically since the completion of the WWE-UFC merger under TKO Group Holdings in 2023, with WrestleMania 41 being the most expensive WrestleMania to attend in show history, with tickets initially beginning at $450 and rising to above $10,000.

WWE have received criticism over ticket prices, which included WWE President Nick Khan being questioned by a fan at Universal Studios recently. Randy Orton also admitted he was embarrassed by the price of WrestleMania 41 tickets.

Despite the criticism, fans have continued to pay the new ticket prices, with WWE regularly announcing record gates.

H/T Fightful