WWE have announced that WrestleMania 38 was the most viewed event in company history, as the sports entertainment giant saw first quarter revenue soar to new heights.
During the first quarter earnings call for 2022, WWE announced record revenue for the first three months of the year. The company recorded $333.4 million in total revenue which is an increase of 27% on the same period last year.
WWE also announced an operating income increase of $92.4 million for the quarter, which is an increase of 42%.
These figures were also bolstered by the news that WresteMania 38 was the most viewed event in company history. It was also the second most viewed live event ever on Peacock behind only Super Bowl LVI. WWE President Nick Khan also touted the company’s growth on the streaming service compared to last year, as viewing figures for WrestleMania weekend doubled from 2021.
“In 2021, we saw a 15% increase in viewership from 2020, which was the last WrestleMania to air in the US on WWE Network. This momentum continued into 2022, where this past month, we saw 61% increase from 2021. We also doubled WWE viewership in total on Peacock over the past WrestleMania weekend compared to the year prior. We did not hit a ceiling our first year on Peacock. During WrestleMania weekend, nearly one-third of all Peacock accounts viewed WWE content. WrestleMania 38 was the second most-watched live event in the history of Peacock behind only this year’s Super Bowl,”
“This tells us we’re reaching new fans on the service and growing WWE’s audience with the growth of Peacock alongside the existing robust partnership and viewership with USA with Raw and Fox with SmackDown.”
Night one of WrestleMania 38 was headlined by Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kevin Owens as the WWE Hall of Famer returned to action for the first time in almost two decades. WrestleMania Saturday also saw Cody Rhodes return to the company and Bianca Belair defeat Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship.
On night two, Roman Reigns pinned Brock Lesnar in the main event to become Undisputed Universal Champion.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.