Mark Shapiro Has No Regrets About Returning to Las Vegas For WrestleMania 42

Mark Shapiro acknowledges it may have been a mistake to bring WrestleMania to Las Vegas for two years straight, but he has no regrets. WrestleMania 42’s return to Las Vegas generated a lot of discussion about ticket sales, which ultimately came in lower than last year’s show. The show running Vegas two straight years was attributed as a major reason for the ticket sale drop, among other reasons.

Shapiro, the president of TKO, spoke with Yahoo! Finance for an interview recorded before the PLE. He said that the decision may have been a mistake, but pointed out Las Vegas’ status as a hub for major events and said he has no regrets. You can see highlights below, per Fightful:

On the Company’s Financial Success:

“WWE, UFC, PBR — in today’s economic climate and obviously a lot going on from a geopolitical perspective and a lot going on at home from an affordability perspective, we’re still seeing massive uptick —maybe even more so — of families and fans that want to come out and escape the day-to-day. They’re doing it through the lens of our sports and entertainment properties. We’re seeing strong growth on our ticket yields, we’re seeing sellouts across the board on our UFC numbered events and our Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and Premium Live Events at WWE. PBR is having its best year in the last five years. That should tell you something in terms of demand, anticipation, and following and should bode well for years of long-term sustained growth.”

On Running WrestleMania in Las Vegas Two Years Straight:

“I would tell you that Vegas is two years in a row for WrestleMania 42, so some of the challenges we had there is usually we move WrestleMania year after year to a new spot and that allows us to obviously grow and see the kind of economic impact we would expect. Maybe it’s a mistake I made because Vegas was so huge last year and such a winner for our fans and the product that I said to Nick Khan, ‘We’ve gotta go back to Vegas next year. We have to move New Orleans down the road and we got to come back to Vegas.’

“Las Vegas, I don’t need to tell you, is the Mecca for great events. More and more events are moving there, music has residences, and more and more sports teams — as evidenced by the NHL and soon-to-be Major League Baseball — are popping up there with teams to come. Absolutely no regrets on going back there, but the only reason you’re hearing some of the, hey it’s not what it was last year, it’s because we’re not benefiting from the first mover experience.”