WWE Struggles To Sell Tickets For Madison Square Garden House Show

WWE drew one of their lowest attendances inside Madison Square Garden in several years for the company's holiday house show on Sunday, December 26.

In an arena that can fit 20,000 people, only 5,376 tickets had been sold as of a few hours before the show, according to WrestleTix. The building was also only set up for 10,480 fans and was still filled with empty seats, particularly in the upper tiers.

A vaccination requirement was in place for the event that meant all attendees age 5 and older required proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccination to enter the building, but a source noted to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast the show wasn't selling "from the start."

"Spoke to a friend over at MSG regarding tonight's WWE show. They mentioned that most are attributing low ticket sales due to Omicron & the vax requirement for kids 5+ but he also added 'However this wasn't selling for WWE from the start. This show generally does very well.' They also added that the Knicks yesterday had 'Pretty much a sell-out' for the Xmas day show they do yearly," Zarian tweeted.

80 percent of New York City residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 72 percent have received two doses.

While it may have affected the attendance, COVID-19 did impact the card WWE presented to fans in Madison Square Garden and the likes of Big E, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch and Bobby Lashley were all missing from the show due to the company's latest coronavirus outbreak. NXT talents Tommaso Ciampa and Pete Dunne were instead used at the event and Edge was added to the show at the last minute.