The most recent edition of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Wrestlmania set a company record for the amount of economic impact the event had on Atlanta, GA, where it was held.
The April 3 event was held at the Georgia Dome, and according to the WWE it generated $62.1 million in “direct, indirect and induced impact” on the city from fans visiting Atlanta for the annual spectacle. The amount represents a $17 million increase over the economic impact of the 2010 Wrestlemania held in Glendale, AZ.
In addition, the event generated nearly $8 million in local, county and state taxes.
“WWE is thrilled that the city of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia were the recipients of the largest economic windfall to date for WrestleMania,” WWE senior vice president of special events John Saboor said in a statement.
According to the company, 75 percent of the attendees at the sold-out event were from outside of the city, and more than 60 percent of them stayed in area hotels for three or more nights bracketing the matches. The total number of tickets sold exceeded 71,000.
The economic impact of the event was determined to be the equivalent of the creation of 621 full-time jobs in the region.
Wrestlemania’s economic impact was studied by Enigma Research, which used a proprietary system to measure various business and other sectors, such as accommodations, restaurant and bar sales, ticket sales, merchandising and travel expenses.
“WrestleMania Week brought tens of thousands of fans from across the world to our great city and furthered Atlanta’s reputation as one of the sports and entertainment capitals of the world,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in a statement.
The price of shares of WWE stock, which trades under the symbol WWE, was up nearly 1 percent today, October 24, at $10.72.