WWE is going to make a surprising next move to make fans afford tickets, says veteran Bill Apter (Exclusive)

WWE has gone to great lengths to secure more live event revenue, which has essentially translated to more expensive tickets, and outright unaffordable to many. Wrestling veteran Bill Aper believes that they will make a surprising next move for fans to afford tickets.

On the latest episode of The Wrestling Time Machine, host Mac Davis was critical of TKO's decision to keep increasing ticket prices, and Bill Apter and Teddy Long were both in agreement that regular fans can't afford tickets for WWE shows these days.

As a result, Bill Apter believes that NXT shows are going to be pushed as an affordable option for fans to have fun at when they can't afford main roster tickets:

"You know what they're going to do, in my opinion? They're going to take NXT and all the places they had spot shows that they don't do anymore? NXT is going to be the less expensive and spot-show place."

You can watch the full video below:

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What was TKO Executive Ben Shapiro's take on the future of ticket prices for WWE?

The topic of ticket prices has become a big part of the discourse among WWE fans, especially those living in the USA and Canada, where WWE hosts major shows regularly.

Host Mac Davis argued that pricing out casual fans is bad for business in the long run, and perhaps that's something that Vince McMahon also believed when setting the ticket prices for shows.

One thing is for sure - TKO Executives view ticket prices as a segment where there is room for growth. This means that ticket prices are likely to continue to go up. Drawing parallels to the UFC, TKO Chief Operating Officer Ben Shapiro spoke at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia+Technology Conference and explained the current mentality behind ticket prices:

"We know we have more room to go. Why do we know that? UFC is breaking records everywhere they go. We know we have a lot of room there because Vince McMahon was primarily pricing tickets for families and wasn’t totally focused on maxing the opportunity there. We see what we can do with the UFC, and we’re replicating that in terms of ticket yield and advance sales when it comes to OnLocation on the WWE side. It’s really working out well,” he said. (H/T Fightful)

When a fan confronted Nick Khan in public about the ticket prices, the WWE President said, "I understand." While that gave hope that there might be some flexibility, it seems like the current TKO mentality is to continue growth at all costs.

It's going to be interesting to see the long-term outcome of this, as the company continues to enjoy great ticket sales despite many fans stating that there has been a creative decline in the product compared to 2023 to 2024.

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If you use the quotes from the first half of this article, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the episode of The Wrestling Time Machine.