WWE’s WrestleMania extravaganza draws sponsors to the ring

WWE’s WrestleMania, Super Bowl for sports entertainment company, arrives this weekend to a massive audience and vastly larger sponsorship revenue as it seeks to establish itself as a serious contender for major dollars from such partnerships.

Craig Stimmel, WWE’s senior vice president and head of global sales and partnerships, told Associated Press in an interview that sponsorship revenue for this year’s event has doubled to more than $20 million, a record for any WWE event.

Those numbers are critical in light of  return in January of Vince McMahon, founder and majority shareholder of WWE, who said sports entertainment company could be up for sale.

re are numerous rumors circulating about who might be willing to buy WWE and for how much, and it’s unkwn if anyone has stepped forward with a bid yet. But company’s broadening presence everywhere from TikTok to streaming channels could lift its asking price.

Marketing experts see WWE as a prime venue for brands due to makeup of its core audience. That audience ranges from mirs to seniors, has a wide range of incomes, it’s global, and it’s fervently devoted to craft, said T. Maxwell, a partner at Max Sports Marketing.

“WWE fans are fiercely loyal and dedicated, y are hooked, y crave storytelling and will be WWE fans for life,” Maxwell said. “This creates an amazing opportunity for savvy brands to connect with a unique audience for life.”

company, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is increasingly leaning into its marketing potential and finding new ways to resonate with fans and sponsors.

For first time at a premium live event in January, WWE incorporated a single company’s branding (Mountain Dew) on ring canvas, in post-show press conferences and elsewhere. WWE also played off product company was introducing to consumers, a drink called “Pitch Black.” match was held in dark, in a ring with fluorescent ring ropes and gear.

During last year’s WrestleMania, wrestlers Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs incorporated colors used by Mike’s Hard Lemonade to launch a new drink into gear y wore in ring.

Stimmel said WWE will incorporate corporate brands into this year’s WrestleMania in a multitude of ways, including a match sponsorship, a “blurring of fourth wall” between what home viewers see vs. what live audience members observe and an augmented reality experience.

“We try to find perfect marri of brand and story,” Stimmel said.

WrestleMania 39, a two-day event that begins Saturday at SoFi Stadium outside of Los Angeles, has 12 sponsors, half of m returning from last year’s event.

While re has been pushback by fans in some sports leagues that have tried to introduce more advertising, it does t appear to be an issue for WWE.

“I think WWE fans are much more accepting of (sponsors) than traditional sports,” Maxwell said.

Sponsors are keen to take advant of WWE’s push into social media as company pursues a multifaceted online effort to reach viewers on YouTube, TikTok and elsewhere.

company surpassed 16 billion social video views in final quarter of last year. It has nearly 94 million YouTube subscribers and has more than 20 million followers on TikTok. Its female wrestlers comprise five out of top 15 most followed female athletes in world, across Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, led by Ronda Rousey with 36.1 million followers.

WWE had more than 7.5 billion digital and social media views in January and February of this year, up 15% from same time frame a year ago.

size of net that WWE is throwing out to capture viewers has been ticed by retail analysts.

“WWE has multiple channels to connect with customers which is important for sponsors who don’t want to rely on just one medium,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. “It basically gives brands multiple bites of cherry to reach customers. WWE has built out an entire entertainment ecosystem which brands can tap into and use to push ir marketing messs.”

Even timing of WrestleMania in early April, which falls between end of National Football League season and early days of Major League Baseball season, puts WWE in a position to capture more sponsors.

“WrestleMania is our Super Bowl,” said Stimmel.