WWE launched its “road to WrestleMania” this past Saturday with the annual Royal Rumble event, which was declared by the company as the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble — “the most successful” in history.
According to WWE, the 2025 Royal Rumble set records as the “highest-grossing” event since it began in 1988, drawing a crowd of 70,342 at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. This resulted in “the largest gate for any single-night event in WWE history,” only surpassed by the Saturday and Sunday shows of last year’s WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. Merchandise sales also experienced a significant surge, reported to be up 95 percent from last year’s record-breaking Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, making the 2025 Royal Rumble the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event ever.
Additionally, WWE announced a 94 percent increase in sponsorship revenue compared to the previous year. This year’s Royal Rumble featured 14 partners, with individual sponsors for each of the show’s four matches, reflecting WWE’s parent company, TKO’s, more aggressive approach to sponsorships.
In terms of viewership, WWE reports that the 2025 Royal Rumble achieved all-time record figures, experiencing a 14 percent rise in domestic viewership on Peacock, while international numbers surged further with the show moving to Netflix overseas. Furthermore, the event set a new benchmark for “most social video views in Royal Rumble history,” with the clip of Bron Breakker spearing streamer IShowSpeed surpassing 340 million views within 24 hours, marking it as the most-viewed social post related to the Royal Rumble.
WE NEVER SAW IT COMING! 😲@ishowspeedsui just entered the Men’s #RoyalRumble Match and got DESTROYED by @bronbreakkerwwe! pic.twitter.com/ZeHyYegDiH
— WWE (@WWE) February 2, 2025
The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble also signified the first event in a multi-year agreement to bring high-profile events, such as WrestleMania and SummerSlam, to Indianapolis, with the next event in the lineup still to be announced.
