Over the weekend, WrestleMania 38 became the most-attended and highest-grossing event in WWE history. Held April 2 to April 3 at the AT&T Stadium in North Texas, a press release from Businesswire showed 156,352 fans from fifty-three countries and all fifty states attended the event, exceeding previous records for attendance and ticket sales initially set in 2016 during Wrestlemania 32.
The week leading up to WrestleMania included a series of events in the Dallas and Arlington area.
“On behalf of our family and the entire Dallas Cowboys organization, we are ecstatic to have once again shattered records with WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium,” Dallas Cowboys Chief Brand Officer Charlotte Jones said in the press release. “I’ve experienced first-hand WWE’s commitment to both its fans and host cities alike. We are so grateful for their partnership and desire to always overdeliver.”
The WWE Superstore Axxess was open from March 31 to April 4 and provided a one-stop shop for WWE merchandise.
John Saboor, the WWE vice president of special events, told WFAA on March 31 that WrestleMania 38 was expected to impact the economy of Dallas and Arlington positively. Fans were showing up a week in advance to show support.
“They’ve come early, they’re going to stay late, and they’re going to spend a lot,” Saboor said.
In the WWE press release, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the week of events provided plenty of economic stimulation for the city.
“The City of Dallas would like to thank WWE for presenting an incredible WrestleMania week of events at both the American Airlines Center and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center,” Mayor Johnson said. “The week provided an economic windfall for Dallas and proved once again that our city is a first-class host for major sporting events.”
Monica Paul, the executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, told WFAA that they had hopes of beating the 2016 record before any events had even started.
“This event hosted in 2016. We set records in 2016. We’re hoping to do so again. But it really is in tune of over $200 million in economic impact for our community,” Paul said in March.
According to Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, the city hopes to host WrestleMania again.
“The City of Arlington is extremely grateful to WWE for bringing back its biggest annual celebration,” Mayor Ross said. “We look forward to the opportunity to top this record with a future WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium.”
WrestleMania 39 will be hosted in Los Angeles at Sofi Stadium from April 1 to April 2, 2023.
“We are thrilled that WrestleMania’s return to Dallas again generated record results, proving that everything is indeed bigger in Texas,” Saboor said in the press release. “We are grateful to the Jones Family and the entire Dallas Cowboys Organization, the Dallas Sports Commission, the City of Arlington, the City of Dallas, and all the public and private sector partners who were instrumental in making WrestleMania 38 the most stupendous two-night WrestleMania in history. We now turn our attention to next year, where WrestleMania will take over Hollywood.”