The Royal Rumble is one of the biggest annual professional wrestling events put on by WWE. For wrestling fans, getting to attend the Royal Rumble live is a dream come true. However, renting out the entire Royal Rumble event for a private party comes with a hefty price tag. Here’s a look at what it costs to rent out a Royal Rumble event.
What is the Royal Rumble?
The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event held every January by WWE. It features the signature Royal Rumble match, a battle royal with 30 wrestlers entering the ring at timed intervals. The winner of the Royal Rumble match gets a world championship match at WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble has been held annually since 1988, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of WWE’s “Big Four” pay-per-views along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series.
In addition to the men’s Rumble match, the card also features a women’s Rumble match, plus several high-profile singles matches. It typically lasts around 4 hours and draws large crowds at arenas across North America.
Where is the Royal Rumble held?
The location of the Royal Rumble rotates each year, typically hosted in a major arena in a North American city. Recent and upcoming locations include:
- 2023 – Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
- 2022 – Dome at America’s Center, St. Louis, MO
- 2021 – Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay, FL
- 2020 – Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX (canceled)
- 2019 – Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
The event draws tens of thousands of fans each year. The 2022 Royal Rumble had a live crowd of 44,390 at the Dome in St. Louis. The venue must have a capacity of at least 35,000 to 40,000 to host the event.
How much does it cost to rent a venue?
Renting out an arena the size required for the Royal Rumble tends to cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $200,000 per day. This covers the base rental fee for the venue space itself.
For example, when WWE ran the Royal Rumble at Chase Field in 2019, the rental fee was reportedly around $150,000 for the day according to the Sports Business Journal.
Here are estimated rental fees for venues that have hosted the event in recent years:
Venue | Rental Fee |
---|---|
Alamodome (2023) | $100,000 – $150,000 |
Dome at America’s Center (2022) | $100,000 – $175,000 |
Tropicana Field (2021) | $100,000 – $150,000 |
Minute Maid Park (2020) | $150,000 – $200,000 |
Chase Field (2019) | $150,000 |
These fees only cover the rental of the venue for the day. It does not include the costs of staffing, setup, insurance, taxes, catering and other expenses that factor into putting on an event.
How much does it cost to rent the ring and equipment?
In addition to the venue, renting the Royal Rumble means you need a wrestling ring, lighting rigs, motion cameras, barricades, and more. WWE owns all their own equipment and brings it in themselves when they run the event.
For a private event, all of this equipment would need to be rented and set up. This can easily add another $100,000+ to the costs.
Here are estimated rental costs for key Royal Rumble equipment:
Equipment | Estimated Cost |
---|---|
Wrestling ring | $5,000 – $10,000 |
Lighting rigs | $25,000 – $50,000 |
Giant TV screens | $10,000 – $20,000 |
Motion cameras | $5,000 per camera |
Barricades | $500 – $1,000 per section |
Audio equipment | $5,000 – $15,000 |
Between the ring, lighting, screens, barricades and other essential gear, renting Royal Rumble-level equipment could cost $75,000 or more on top of the venue rental fee.
How much are other event costs?
Aside from the venue and equipment, there are additional costs associated with running an event on the scale of the Royal Rumble:
- Insurance – Insuring an event with wrestling matches could run tens of thousands of dollars or more.
- Staffing – Additional event staff for security, EMTs, setup crews, etc. can cost $15,000+.
- Taxes – Sales taxes, entertainment taxes and other fees can amount to 5-10% extra on top of rental costs.
- Catering – Food and beverages for thousands of guests will incur substantial catering costs.
- Travel – Flying in wrestlers and other talent for the event adds to the budget.
- Marketing – Advertising and promotions to sell tickets also need to be factored in.
All in all, these additional Royal Rumble production costs could total over $100,000. The more extravagant the event, the higher this budget goes up.
How many tickets need to be sold?
Let’s look at an example budget for renting out the Royal Rumble at a venue like Chase Field, based on the estimates we’ve covered:
Expense | Estimated Cost |
---|---|
Venue Rental | $150,000 |
Equipment Rental | $100,000 |
Insurance | $30,000 |
Staffing | $25,000 |
Taxes | $20,000 |
Catering | $50,000 |
Travel | $30,000 |
Marketing | $20,000 |
Total | $425,000 |
For a major event like the Royal Rumble, let’s assume the average ticket price is $300. At that rate, it would take selling over 1,400 tickets just to break even:
- Total event costs: $425,000
- Tickets sold: 1,416
- Average ticket price: $300
- Total ticket revenue: $425,000
And this is just to cover expenses, without accounting for profits or the cost to hire any actual wrestlers. Renting out the Royal Rumble is not for the faint of heart!
How much do wrestlers cost?
Of course, a major part of the appeal of renting out the Royal Rumble is being able to book WWE superstars like Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey or Becky Lynch for your own private event.
Hiring top WWE talent does not come cheaply. According to wrestling insider sources, some of the highest-paid wrestlers can command appearance fees of:
- Roman Reigns – $500,000+
- Brock Lesnar – $400,000 – $500,000
- Ronda Rousey – $200,000+
- Becky Lynch – $100,000+
Even mid-tier wrestlers can charge 5-figures for an appearance. With 30 superstars needed for a Royal Rumble match, plus any other singles acts you want to book, talent costs alone could reach well into the millions.
How can costs be reduced?
For most fans, actually renting out the Royal Rumble is a financial impossibility. However, there are a few ways the costs could potentially be reduced:
- Hold the event at a smaller venue – Reduces the base rental fee, but also limits ticket sales.
- Shorten the show – Reduce number of matches and talent booked to lower costs.
- Run the event during off-peak season – Summer or fall dates may offer venue discounts.
- Scale back on extras – Simplify staging, catering, marketing expenses.
- Negotiate lower talent rates – Appearance fees can sometimes be negotiated down.
Realistically though, there is a baseline cost for an event of this scale that can’t be brought down too far without sacrificing significant value.
Can fans pool resources to rent it?
Given the massive costs involved, one way regular fans could potentially afford to rent out the Royal Rumble is by pooling their resources together.
For instance, 100 super fans could each contribute $10,000 to raise $1,000,000 towards the event costs. Or 1000 fans could contribute $1000 each to also hit that $1 million mark.
While still expensive for average fans, fronting $1000 or $10,000 is much more feasible than one person paying the entire bill themselves. Platforms like GoFundMe could allow fans to crowdfund their dream Royal Rumble event.
Granted, organizing so many fans would be extremely challenging. Not to mention additional hurdles like coordinating with WWE and handling all the event logistics.
However, for a once-in-a-lifetime experience like a private Royal Rumble, some superfans with enough passion just might make it happen!
Conclusion
Renting out the Royal Rumble for a private event is only within reach for someone with extremely deep pockets. Between the venue, equipment, staffing, insurance, taxes, catering, travel, marketing, and talent costs, the price tag can easily surpass $1 million.
For average WWE fans, getting to attend the Royal Rumble live in-person is likely the closest they will get. But for a true die-hard with money to burn, renting out wrestling’s biggest battle royal for themselves remains an option…at a cost!