Highlights
- AEW's TV presentation is suffering due to low attendance, which is affecting the energy of the crowd, wrestlers, and the overall show.
- There are several factors contributing to AEW's declining attendance, including a lack of exciting storylines, oversaturation of markets, poor promotion, and high ticket prices.
- To fix the current situation, AEW needs to consider moving to smaller arenas to create a more intimate and energetic atmosphere, despite the potential loss of the "big arena" feel. Failure to make changes could lead to a decline similar to TNA's Impact Zone.
The honeymoon is over. When AEW debuted in 2019, they were the cool new kids on the block who could do no wrong. They took what NXT succeeded at, having that hip, energetic indie feel, and capitalized on it with an amazing talented roster of wrestlers. It resulted in sold out shows in big arenas week after week.
Things have changed. While AEW can brag about the success of All In at London's Wembley Stadium, things aren't going well back in the United States. TV attendance for Dynamite and Collision is cratering fast, and is now affecting how the shows look on TV. Tony Khan needs to do something to fix this and quick.
AEW's TV Presentation Looks Bad Of Late
AEW has had attendance issues for months, but it reached a critical stage on the September 13 Dynamite from Cincinnati. In Jon Moxley's hometown, WrestleTix showed that only about 2,500 tickets had been sold for an arena that seats 17,500. It was a 47% drop from the last time they were in Cincinnati. It made for a bad look on TV, with the lights out to hide the empty upper levels and the back of the lower level. On the camera side, no one was there, so AEW did what they do a lot lately, and what WWE used to do so often, and not show the camera side at all. Any shot that showed the stage made sure to pan to the right so you couldn't see that there was no one on the left.
AEW does a good job of hiding this most weeks, but Dynamite in Cincy was so badly attended that it couldn't be hidden. It affects not only the energy of the crowd, but the energy of the wrestlers and the show itself. Fans come in and see how bad it looks, and the talent spend the night playing to cameras where no one sits. That has to do something to the morale of everyone involved, especially when fan photos of empty seats go viral. You can't hide that.
Why Is AEW's Attendance Sinking So Low?
In 2019, AEW was on fire. Of course, 2020 destroyed everything for them and WWE both, as the companies spent more than a year in front of little to no fans. When AEW was allowed to have fans back though, they were hotter than ever. That was helped by so many huge signings, from CM Punk, to Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole. Then it all went south.
There are so many reasons why AEW is in the state it is now. Brawl Out didn't help. It was an ugly moment that turned off many fans. There has been a lot of criticism for a while now about the lack of exciting storylines. All the shocking debuts of ex-WWE stars dried up too. Markets get oversaturated, shows aren't heavily promoted, and ticket prices are too high. While AEW's ratings for Dynamite have dropped, it hasn't been off a cliff like attendance has. If all of this has happened in a year, where will AEW be in 2024? How will they attract big name free agents like Edge and Mercedes Mone, when it's sadly starting to look like AEW is dying. It doesn't help either, that while all of this is happening, WWE is thriving, with great ratings and sellouts everywhere they go. Even their live events are packed.
