Press Release: WrestleMania 28 Generates Over $100 Million For Host City

October 15, 2012

STAMFORD, Conn., October 15, 2012 – WWE® (NYSE: WWE) announced today that WrestleMania 28 generated a record-breaking $102.7 million in economic impact for the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County this past April, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation.

This new record for WrestleMania’s economic impact represents a $40 million increase over WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta. WrestleMania 28 also generated approximately $15.3 million in local, state and county taxes.

“WrestleMania Week brought tens-of-thousands of fans from across the globe to sample the beautiful hotels, restaurants and businesses of Miami,” said Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Chairman of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission. “Our economy, as well as our community, significantly benefited from the week of events, and we thank WWE for shining their international spotlight on our wonderful city.”

“We are thrilled that Miami and the state of Florida were the recipients of WrestleMania’s largest economic impact ever. This result is a testament to that community’s hard work and extensive planning,” said John P. Saboor, Senior Vice President of Special Events for WWE. “Commissioner Diaz and all of our public and private sector partners did an exceptional job of welcoming our fans from around the world for WWE’s largest annual celebration. We now turn our focus to the New York/New Jersey region for what will assuredly be a historic WrestleMania 29.”

A capacity crowd of 78,363 fans from all 50 states and 36 countries attended WWE’s pop-culture extravaganza this past April. Key highlights from the study include:

– $102.7 million of direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by non-locals visiting specifically for WrestleMania XXVIII.

– 71% of fans that attended WrestleMania were from outside the Miami area and stayed an average of four nights.

– The economic impact derived from WrestleMania Week was equal to the creation of 1,020 full-time jobs for the area.

– $6.9 million was spent by non-locals at Miami and Miami-Dade County restaurants.

Next year, WrestleMania 29 will take place Sunday, April 7 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The event will be broadcast on pay-per-view, and viewed in more than 100 countries.

Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.

Nick attended New York University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Drama.

Nick first entered the internet wrestling community back in 2004 when he became the co-host of The Voice of Wrestling Radio Show. From there, Nick made the transition from radio personality to editor when he began working with WrestleZone in 2008.

Nick is a member of two Off-Broadway theatre companies, Another Urban Riff, and the Drama Desk Award winning Godlight Theatre Company. Nick has appeared in over a dozen Off-Broadway plays since he moved to New York City, and has shot several short and feature length films. In 2010, he completed principle photography on a film titled "How to Score Your Life," which also features TNA Knockout ODB.

Inspiration in his life has come from many people including his family, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, The Beatles, and of course, Lassie.