WWE kicked off its “road to WrestleMania” on Saturday with its annual Royal Rumble event.
And according to the company, the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble wasn’t just a massive success — it was the “most successful” Royal Rumble in history.
Per WWE, the 2025 Royal Rumble was the “highest-grossing” version of the event since its inception in 1988. That includes a total attendance of 70,342 at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium resulting in “the largest gate for any single-night event in WWE history,” trailing only the Saturday and Sunday shows of last year’s WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
As for merchandise, WWE said that sales were up 95 percent from last year’s record-breaking Royal Rumble event, which was held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. That makes the 2025 Royal Rumble the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event of all-time.
The money didn’t stop there, with WWE announcing that sponsorship revenue was up 94 percent from a year ago. With WWE’s parent company, TKO, taking on a much more aggressive approach to sponsorships, this year’s Royal Rumble featured 14 total partners, with all four of the show’s matches having individual sponsors.
As far as viewership, WWE says that the 2025 Royal Rumble was the most viewed in the event’s history. That includes a 14 percent increase from last year’s event domestically on Peacock, with international numbers increasing even more with the show shifting to Netflix overseas.
Per WWE, the show also set a new record for “most social video views in Royal Rumble history,” with the clip of Bron Breakker spearing streamer IShowSpeed generating more than 340,000,000 social views in less than 24 hours, making it the most-viewed Royal Rumble social post of all-time.
WE NEVER SAW IT COMING! 😲@ishowspeedsui just entered the Men’s #RoyalRumble Match and got DESTROYED by @bronbreakkerwwe! pic.twitter.com/ZeHyYegDiH
— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2025
The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble marked the first event in a multi-year agreement to bring high profile shows, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam, to Indianapolis. The next event in the deal has yet to be announced.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.