Brad Piff
The Money & The Miles
TK thinking he could hide the real attendance figures with an NDA
plus Texas deboed $300k from AEW for not selling enough tickets
AEW’s massive All In event at Globe Life Field was supposed to deliver in more ways than one—but when the turnstiles didn’t spin like expected, the State of Texas made sure to slash its end of the deal.
According to Wrestlenomics, AEW was originally pre-approved to receive $1 million in funding from the Texas Event Trust Fund—a state-run reimbursement program for large-scale attractions. That estimate was based on a projected 33,490 total attendees, including 32,500 paid fans. But once the official numbers came in, things got a lot less generous.
The actual turnstile count? Only 21,973 tickets were scanned, with a total headcount inside the venue of 23,759, which includes suite guests, staff, and production workers. Once that reality hit, AEW’s expected payout got chopped down by nearly a third. Arlington City Manager Trey Yelverton confirmed the outcome:
“AEW will instead receive around $700,000 in reimbursements.”
That $300,000 shortfall isn’t just about numbers—it’s a direct hit to AEW’s wallet for an event President Tony Khan had publicly billed as “nearly 29,000” in attendance and nearly $3 million at the gate. While tracking site WrestleTix estimated around 27,245 distributed tickets, the state wasn’t buying into the hype once receipts were tallied.
There were also bigger plans pitched for All In week, including crossover shows with NJPW, CMLL, and a concert featuring Fozzy and Swerve Strickland. But none of those materialized, possibly weakening the justification for the original state funding.
This kind of deal isn’t new—WWE has pulled from the same trust fund for WrestleMania and other big events. But AEW’s attempt to cash in came up short once the state saw the actual turnout.
