FILE – Actor and former WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson attends a press conference on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, in New York. WWE continues to leverage his social media presence to reach fans as he prepares for his biggest premium live event of the year in April 2024. A key element of that strategy is YouTube, where WWE has achieved a significant milestone by reaching 100 million subscribers. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)
This year's WrestleMania is just days away, but WWE's marketing campaign for the year's biggest premium live event has been in full swing for months.
In February, three days before the Super Bowl, with all eyes on Las Vegas, WWE tried to steal some of the NFL's spotlight for itself.
The sports entertainment company held a press conference at T-Mobile Arena, just down the road from the Super Bowl stadium in Las Vegas, to promote WrestleMania XL, a two-day event that begins Saturday in Philadelphia. Ta. Top stars such as Cody Rhodes and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who recently became a director of WWE's parent company, TKO Group, made appearances. The free event, streamed live on Peacock, was an attempt to capture the attention of thousands of soccer fans in town and potential viewers across the country.
The event, which featured no wrestling and was attended by thousands, saw The Rock slap Rhodes in the face, garnering 15.7 million views across all WWE social media platforms in less than 12 hours. . More than 4.7 million people watched the event live, making it the most-watched event outside the ring in WWE history, according to the company. This press conference was viewed over 100 million times within his 12 hours.
WWE released the WrestleMania XL video on Super Bowl day. The video has racked up over 5 million views on him and is counted on his WWE account on X, formerly known as his Twitter.
Jason Siersack, president of Pacific Rim at brand experience company Siegel + Gale, said that depending on how WWE crafts its WrestleMania message, fans will see many of the storylines that have evolved over the year in the ring. He says he is eager for the event to be resolved.
“This is a marketing masterclass with plenty of storytelling and drama that many major sports leagues and even TV writers will learn from,” Sielczak said.
Considering The Rock's long-standing ties to WWE and his status as a movie star, his participation in WrestleMania XL is quite an asset.
“The benefits to WWE are numerous and will help position WWE as a trusted entertainment organization that will attract the 'rocks of the future' as they strive for global stardom,” said Sielczak.
WWE has also been leveraging its professional relationships with two of the company's biggest social media personalities, Logan Paul and Pat McAfee, to promote WrestleMania XL. Paul, the current WWE United States Champion, Prime Beverage Company co-founder, podcaster and YouTuber, uploaded a video to X of his reaction to the WrestleMania XL press conference. Paul currently has 23.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 6.8 million followers on X.
McAfee, who returned to WWE's Raw commentary team and co-hosted the WrestleMania XL press conference, recently interviewed The Rock on ESPN's self-titled television show. A clip of McAfee's video posted to his X account has been viewed more than 3 million times.
The increased promotion leading up to WrestleMania not only benefits WrestleMania, but also the region where the event is held. Last year, WrestleMania 39, held at SoFi Stadium, brought in $215 million to the Los Angeles area, according to research from Applied Analysis. According to WWE, this beats previous year's record when WrestleMania 38 brought $206.5 million in economic impact to the Dallas/Arlington area.
According to WWE, since 2016, WrestleMania has generated more than $1.2 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that host the event.
Shares of Stamford, Conn.-based TKO Group Holdings are up nearly 7% this year.
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