WWE Shows 'Scalping' To Sell More Tickets - Brandweek

Source: Brandweek
By: Michael Kane

Considering that a lot of people believe Donald Trump's hair is fake anyway, it only makes sense that many people would pay money to see him without any hair. Fortunately for The Donald, though, he was the one wielding the buzz clipper on April 1 at World Wrestling Entertainment's Wrestlemania 23 "Battle of the Billionaires" pay-per-view event.

The confrontation had begun months earlier with a faux feud between Trump and Vince McMahon, chairman and majority owner of WWE, Stamford, Conn. Hostilities grew when the creative minds at WWE envisioned a live PPV event in which wrestlers would fight for the honor of the two moguls. At stake: the loser's head, which the winner would get to shave.

Even for the over-the-top WWE, it was an event of epic proportions. A multimillion-dollar marketing push included TV, print, radio, cinema and out-of-home. Trump appeared live during a WWE "Monday Night Raw" event in January, where he handed out thousands of dollars. Pre-event coverage included The New York Times, Time, USA Today and the Today show. Joint-promotion alliances included GameStop, Steve & Barry's, YouTube, TMZ, MySpace, ESPN2, VH1, TVLand, Playboy and Rolling Stone. Some 100,000 WrestleMania 23-branded pizza boxes were distributed in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas and Detroit. A million people received prerecorded calls from McMahon and WWE stars. The WWE estimated the value at $70 million in pre-event coverage.

"This was the most successful event in WrestleMania history, and the highest grossing one-day live event for WWE, with [about] $5.9 million in ticket sales, 1.2 million pay-per-view buys and global revenues in excess of $24.3 million," said Geof Rochester, WWE evp-marketing at. "This was at the 50,000-foot level."

The event also set a Wrestle-Mania record for merchandise sales, with more than $1.6 million in gross revenue.

At the event itself, which drew a record 80,103 to Detroit's Ford Field, Bobby Lashley, ECW world champ, represented Trump and Umaga, WWE intercontinental champ, was McMahon's man. Ultimately, Trump meted out the haircut.

"Vince McMahon is a master at marketing the WWE, and he figured how to capitalize on the Donald Trump factor and weave it into Wrestlemania," said Robert Tuchman, president at TSE Sports & Entertainment, New York. "Trump was the most searched name on the Internet that weekend. This is clearly the work of two men who are able to generate an amazing following in the media."

And what happened to the hair shaved from McMahon's head? "We thought of ways to raise money for charity, but we decided we didn't want Vince McMahon's DNA falling into the wrong hands," said Rochester. "Where that hair is now is a closely guarded secret."