WWE News: Update on Low Attendance for the Bygone Hell In A Cell PPV
Oct 14, 2017 at 4:11 PM
The Hell in a Cell PPV was hosted this year at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
It was a brand new arena to be inserted into the WWE events. Till date, the company used to host all shows in the city of Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena which is no longer intact. It is being renovated, and no further shows can be conducted here in the future.
Also, this was for the first-time ever that the Smackdown brand hosted the Hell in a Cell PPV, on their own. So, there was a speculation about the success of the event. The blue brand was able to come up with a stacked card for the night on October 8th, but there was indeed a lack of buildup for the show. The only match they depended on was the main event between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens.
There were little efforts given to the other championship matches and as a result of which the arena was not sold out. According to the reports of WWE, all the seats which are around 16,200 got sold out, completely.
However, reports from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter said to differ a lot from that reported by the company. The veteran journalist said that around 13000 tickets were sold for the evening. A huge portion of seats was empty, but WWE cameras did not focus on that, for sure. You can check this given angle which has been able to focus on the empty seats.
Another report from The 434 Facebook page also released a picture that showed plenty of empty seats on that night. This is definitely not a good indication for the company. The PPVs are special events on Sunday night, and there’s only a handful of times when buildings are not sold out by the advertised matches. It is why WWE should focus on making the product more impactful, for sure.
The other reason that is being speculated for the lower attendance is that the ongoing terror attacks in the USA country which might have affected the attendance, as well. However, it can’t be blamed as a whole, for sure.