Last Monday on Raw, WWE announced its triumphant broadcast return to home base Madison Square Garden on September 9 and 10 for WWE Raw and SmackDown, respectively.
WWE had not aired a television broadcast in Madison Square Garden in almost a decade with Raw’s last MSG show airing on November 16, 2009.
WWE’s homecoming, however, reportedly has not gotten off to the most triumphant start as ticket sales did not immediately sell out despite the best-laid plans for the promotion. As of Sunday evening, Stubhub listed tickets available in several sections of the Garden.
WWE’s return to MSG comes with residual controversy dating back to its attempts to block rival promotions Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling from teaming up to air the Supercard of Honor pay-per-view. After some Sinclair-backed legal posturing, Supercard of Honor not only aired in WWE’s backyard of Madison Square Garden, it sold out immediately.
Juxtaposed against the nuclear demand for AEW’s All Out on August 31, which led to a 15-minute sellout of its own, WWE’s failure to instantly sell out on the first day of ticket sales has to be considered egg on the face of the promotion and its ultracompetitive Chairman.
WWE’s struggles have been well documented, with the latest mainstream coverage on that front coming from yours truly during an appearance on NPR Weekend Edition. Ahead of what will be an uncomfortable 2Q 2019 earnings call, WWE’s opportunity to preemptively tout quick sellouts for its upcoming Garden Shows has just lost steam.
Live event attendance, which Vince McMahon views as a barometer for how the promotion is doing, has been among the most glaring concerns in WWE’s business in 2019. Never did this issue become more concerning this year than during last month’s Stomping Grounds pay-per-view in Tacoma, Wash. which drew a reported 4,000 to 4,500 paid fans.
Early news of MSG ticket sales isn’t the momentum-builder WWE had hoped for given its struggling live events division, which recently brought in a live event team to help fix these struggles.
Reports of WWE not immediately selling out a storied venue months after tickets were contrastingly gobbled up in support of its competition is certainly discouraging. And major changes to WWE’s core product, which were possibly addressed through the hires of Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman, will be more important than ever.
