WrestleMania 35 generates $165 million in economic impact for New York/New Jersey

WWE and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy today announced that WrestleMania 35 generated $165.4 million in economic impact for the New York/New Jersey region this past April, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. This marks a more than 60 percent increase from the $101.2 million generated for WrestleMania 29 in New York and New Jersey, and the eighth consecutive year that WrestleMania generated more than $100 million in economic impact for its host region.

The figure is $10 million less than what WrestleMania 34 generated for New Orleans in 2018.

Over the past 13 years, WrestleMania has generated more than $1.3 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event. WrestleMania 35 also generated approximately $27.1 million in federal, state and local taxes.

“New Jersey is proud to have hosted WrestleMania 35 in April, the fourth time our state has been host to this great event,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. “This data underscores what we already knew – bringing large-scale events that draw fans from all over the world brings significant economic benefits to our state and the region. I thank WWE for choosing New Jersey and hope to continue this partnership in the future.”

“We are thrilled that WrestleMania’s return to our ‘front yard’ generated a significant economic increase for our partners in New York and New Jersey,” said John P. Saboor, WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events. “This success would not have been possible without the tireless support of Governor Murphy, Barclays Center, NYC & Company, Meadowlands Chamber, New York Jets, New York Giants and the rest of our public and private sector partners throughout the region. We now turn our attention to next year for what will be a historic WrestleMania debut in Tampa Bay.”

A sold-out crowd of 82,265 fans from all 50 states and 68 countries attended WWE’s pop-culture extravaganza this past April, making it the highest-grossing entertainment event in the history of MetLife Stadium. Key highlights from the study include: $165.4 million in direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by visitors to the New York/New Jersey region for WrestleMania 35; 52% of fans that attended WrestleMania were from outside the New York and New Jersey region and stayed an average of 4.6 nights; $23.9 million was spent on hotels and accommodations within the New York/New Jersey region; The economic impact derived from WrestleMania Week was equal to the creation of 1,534 full-time jobs for the area; $6.6 million was spent by visitors to the region at area restaurants.