Read the arena, WWE. Especially all those empty seats up top.
On Tuesday, WWE announced it is launching “the ultimate insider membership program,” Club WWE, which is “designed to bring fans closer to WWE than ever before through exclusive access, rewards and experiences.” The annual membership fee for what the company is calling its “Gold” tier has not yet been revealed; WWE is accepting signups on what it may or may not be correctly calling (at this point) a “waitlist.”
Club WWE Gold members will get a 24-hour ticket presale to all WWE events, and “tailored perks” at Superstar meet-and-greets, “hospitality opportunities” and the opportunity to strut their stuff on the entrance ramp ahead of an event. They can shop at a members-only WWE Shop “featuring exclusive collections and early access to merchandise drops,” the press release reads, and there will be a “members-only community forum” plus a rewards system to earn credits toward “digital and physical goods.”
Currently, the “Founding Members Waitlist” awaits founding members; founding members will get a “premium Welcome pack.” Full membership benefits and Club WWE launch timing (and hopefully pricing!) will be announced in the coming weeks, WWE said.
“Our fans are the heartbeat of WWE, and everything we do begins with them,” John Cena, who somehow ended up as the face of this thing, said in a statement provided by WWE. “Club WWE is about bringing that connection to life in a bigger way — through exclusive access, unique experiences and a true sense of community. It’s a premium destination built to reward passion and give our most dedicated fans a meaningful way to engage with WWE all year round.”
Thanks John, but the timing of the Club WWE announcement could probably be a bit better. Or perhaps it’s exactly right. WrestleMania 42, considered the Super Bowl of professional wrestling, takes place this coming Saturday and Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no better launchpad in all of (what WWE founder Vince McMahon famously dubbed) “sports entertainment,” but WrestleMania 42 has a very specific stigma attached to it, and the irony here will not be lost on fans.
The prevailing commentary surrounding this weekend’s WrestleMania, both in real life and recently in kayfabe (wrestlers pretending what they do and say is real, basically) storylines on WWE TV, is the event’s outrageous ticket prices. The league’s current World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk ripped WWE and (its parent company) TKO executives over the sky-high costs live on Netflix. With WWE, you never know who is speaking from a script and who is speaking from the heart, but with Punk, it is almost always the latter.
Face values for WrestleMania 42 have become such a talking point that one of WWE’s professional talkers, Pat McAfee, announced a temporary 25 percent discount on Friday’s SmackDown (USA Network). McAfee, a former NFL punter and a crossover star thanks to his popular ESPN podcast, has been inserted into one of the weekend’s main events, serving as Randy Orton’s manager. Many believe it was a desperation play to goose sluggish sales. The McAfee promo code ran through Monday night’s Raw (Netflix), but it didn’t exactly set the box office ablaze. Per WrestleTix, WrestleMania 42 is lagging WrestleMania 41 by about 10,000 sold tickets with roughly the same number of days to go to the event. The 2025 WrestleMania also took place in Vegas.
Andrew Baydala, a senior executive at a sports and entertainment ticketing company, says the “significant increase in ticket prices raises concerns about accessibility” for the working class and even middle class. In other words: WWE’s fanbase. Even the rich are getting hosed here, Baydala says. The on-TV Ringside Elite packages, which are exactly what they sound like, have gone from $50,000 last year to $70,000 this year. It is important to note that despite that particular price hike, the limited packages have sold out.
“While WWE has experienced challenges in selling out both nights of the event this year, it will undoubtedly showcase a multimillion-dollar gate and boast record-breaking figures,” Baydala tells THR. “However, one must ask: At what cost? In my opinion it’s very possible that WWE has become tone-deaf to its core fanbase.”
Duke Bennett, the host of the Duke Loves Rasslin podcast, calls the Club WWE announcement “a remarkably aggressive move” by TKO. In this economy?, he said, basically.
In addition to the record-high ticket prices for live events, WWE fans have recently suffered “a series of price hikes for the very platforms required to view the product,” Bennett told THR, referring to Netflix and the new ESPN app. “When you look at the totality of these factors, a troubling picture emerges: WWE is becoming significantly less inclusive. It’s seemingly repositioning itself as the wrestling brand for the ultra-wealthy.”
Bennett called for TKO to “smarten up” here. “If you keep kicking the fans in the pocket, they will eventually find their entertainment elsewhere.”
John Pollack, a Post Wrestling reporter, was a bit more measured in his thoughts. Pollack says Club WWE “could represent a pathway back for that audience with deals and fan service.” Or “conversely,” he adds, “it could be a way to extract even more out of its audience willing to pay the exorbitant amounts for tickets, experiences, etc., and micro-target the fans unfazed by staggering pricing.”
“It’s a tough balance because WWE is still doing incredible business, and the demand is there for most events, but WrestleMania pricing and a return to Vegas for the second year in a row have been too much of an ‘ask’ among many fans, creating desperation in its programming to increase ticket sales,” Pollack told THR.
