February 21, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 1999 attendance numbers, WCW turmoil, tons more

For the year, WWF increased attendance 20%. Monday night Raw ratings for the year as an average increased from a 4.40 average in 1998 to a 6.04 average in 1999, a 37% increase. PPV buy rates for the year increased from a 1.02 average in 1998 to a 1.25 average in 1999 which is a 23% increase. In 1998, WWF sold out 33.5% of its house shows while the figure increased to 63% of its shows in 1999. Average live gate per arena show increased from $188,482 in 1998 to $286,495, a whopping 52% caused by a combination of the increase in attendance and an increase in average ticket price from $18.84 to $23.84.

While there has been no slowdown in live event sales in reality, since WWF has traditionally drawn better January through March every year and this year was no exception, there was a noticeable drop in Monday night ratings in August, coinciding with the beginning of football season. Raw averaged a 6.57 from May through July, which was its all-time peak. The show dropped to a 5.84 average from August through December which is a significant decline during a period when more people are watching television, and that’s with weaker competition from Nitro.

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