WWE issued the following press release:
World Wrestling Entertainment Expects Record-Breaking WrestleMania XX Pay-Per-View to Be Its Highest Grossing Event Ever
STAMFORD, Conn.-- March 25, 2004--
Pay-Per-View Buys for WrestleMania(R) XX to Exceed $40 Million
World Wrestling Entertainment(R), Inc. (NYSE: WWE) announced today that it expects world-wide Pay-Per-View gross revenues for WrestleMania XX to be between $40 million and $45 million, making it the highest grossing Pay-Per-View event in WWE(R) history. WWE's net share is expected to exceed $20 million after revenue-sharing with cable and satellite providers.
WWE said its first-week estimate of Pay-Per-View buys is 825,000, exceeding Pay-Per-View buys for WrestleMania XIX by 25 percent. WWE expects that final Pay-Per-View tallies, once all information is provided by distributors and their affiliates, will be between 900,000 buys to 950,000 buys. The suggested retail price for WrestleMania XX was $49.95 as compared to a suggested retail price of $39.95 for WrestleMania XIX.
The number of buys for WrestleMania XX is an estimate based upon preliminary data available from the WWE's Pay-Per-View distributors and their affiliates and is subject to refinement as further information becomes available from these distributors over the next several months. The estimate has been posted on corporate.wwe.com in accordance with WWE's practice of updating the website weekly to reflect certain key drivers of its business including television ratings, pay-per-view buys and live event attendance.
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
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