Mark Shapiro: TKO 'Not Concerned' By WWE WrestleMania 42 Ticket Sales

TKO President Mark Shapiro isn't worried about the drop in ticket sales for WrestleMania 42.

WrestleMania was held for the second year running at the same venue, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, but ticket sales fell by a huge margin compared to WrestleMania 41 in 2025. While speaking in the Q1 TKO investor call, Shapiro said that the company wasn't bothered about the decline in ticket sales, asserting that the show was still one of the most successful in WWE history in terms of gate revenue.

"Let me say that we are not concerned about the ticket performance whatsoever, as it was unrealistic to expect year 2 growth in Las Vegas. Even with that, WrestleMania 42 was still one of the highest gates in WWE history and easily outperformed anywhere else we could have staged it," said Shapiro.

The TKO executive also answered questions regarding WWE's creative, stating categorically that they are always listening to fans, even mentioning the addition of celebrities to WWE storylines. Reports from last month had claimed that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel had a say in the celebrity involvement at this year's event, which included the much-criticized inclusion of Jelly Roll and Pat McAfee in the Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton storyline. 

"As it relates to the creative, there will always be periodic fan dissatisfaction around creative execution, commercial load, and celebrity usage. We listen to all the feedback. We do not turn a deaf ear, but these are not new criticisms."

Ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 fell by approximately 10,000 tickets for each night compared to last year. WWE has seemingly acknowledged that it wasn't the wisest decision to host "The Show of Shows" at the same venue for two consecutive years, with WWE President Nick Khan admitting that they wouldn't be doing that again.