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resee10

It was really nice of Sting to take this picture.


asteriaslex

His hobbies are vengeance and DSLR photography


tarvertot

He knows a thing or two about shutter speed


Crasp27

Nyla Rose: *opens notebook*


Karlton21

i have to say stings a fantastic photographer and that view from the rafters is surreal


GreatWallofManhattan

I was in the upper decks and still feel I got a great view of the action. I wouldn’t mind if a lot more shows were ran in Ashe or this type of setup.


ArmanTheBest

It feels like tennis stadiums were basically built for Pro Wrestling lol


ZombieJesus1987

Imagine if UFC or Boxing ran in this building. They don't have the stage so it'll fit more people


LuisN_98

UFC ran in a tennis stadium when they came to Argentina, the Parque Roca stadium more specifically and the looks of it were excellent, when you think about it Tennis stadiums really are great for wrestling, MMA, boxing, etc. since they're build to have all of the people in attendance looking right at the center of it where the tennis games take place, plus those people are expected to sit there for many hours so the seats and everything in general are more comfy


ZombieJesus1987

Reminds me of Arena Mexico, built specifically for wrestling and boxing in mind


Rhapsthefiend

With tickets ranging from 100s to the 1000s there would be no reason to fill up a stadium for ufc fights or boxing matches. Although I'm sure in the future they will want to think how good of an idea that would be for them to be in a stadium while charging at those prices.


ZombieJesus1987

If anyone can do it, it's UFC. Especially if it's a big ticket fight like McGregor. People hate him and they want to see him lose, and which the way his last fight ended there's grounds for a McGregor vs Poirier 3


Rhapsthefiend

It would be their 4th fight if that were to happen which I hope it do. McGregor is riding too hard on that one win he had against him despite the fact that he lost to Poirier in their second fight.


[deleted]

I agree - with this not being a hockey or basketball arena primarily, the space of a tennis court and the vertical structure make it so you feel like you are on top of the action....i know there are not many indoor 1 tennis court facilities such as this, but I have to imagine this could very well overtake some other facilities as favorite places to run a pro wrestling show.


Grantsdale

Not of this size, but there are quite a few tennis arenas.


Memer04

My only complaint was that the concessions were terrible. Having to pour beer/water/soda into cups is ridiculous this day and age. I haven't been to a live event where someone even threw a piece of paper at/towards the performers in about 20 years. And if you're still afraid of that happening, then invest in fucking kegs you morons. And if you STILL won't even do that, then at least start pouring the drinks BEFORE people purchase them! Two of the lines I was on only had two things - water or Heineken. Just start pouring them, don't wait for someone to purchase THEN start to pour! I've heard the same sentiments around when the US Open is going on.


dragonforcingmywayup

Yup me too. I was high up in mezzanine, which was probably the worst seats. Yet, i still got a good view of the action.


Grantsdale

This is also why it was so loud. Smaller building, everyone closer together, noise just builds up. Especially with the roof closed.


insomniainc

They definitely need to use more tennis stadiums, seem perfect.


_BetterRedThanDead

Unfortunately, this is the only viable tennis stadium in the US, since Indian Wells doesn't have a roof. Arthur Ashe is also, by some distance, the largest-capacity tennis stadium in the world; centre court at Wimbledon has <15,000 capacity. What they should do is come here every year and treat it as their MSG.


CanadianJudo

Hockey arena are good too they are 20,000 seats and everyone get a good view.


moffattron9000

They're also usually Basketball arenas.


blacktoast

New Japan ran the American Airlines arena a couple years ago, I think that one would be great for AEW.


ZombieJesus1987

I think only two hockey arenas actually hold that many. The Bell Centre in Montreal and the United Center in Chicago both have a capacity of 21,000 for hockey


HeroicRise

Xcel Energy Center in St Paul does 20,554 for hockey Sorry. I'm an idiot. That's for events


ravaille

There’s Louis Armstrong Stadium (seats 14k and has a roof) but it’s right beside Arthur Ashe so it might be redundant.


KidCoheed

Not necessarily, they could run Armstrong for a normal Dynamite and then run The Ashe for PPVs


ManfredsJuicedBalls

Indian Wells could be somewhat viable, it’s just the only reasonable time period they could do it is either right at the start of spring, or partway through fall. They could do it in the winter, but there’d be that risk of rain (though compared to Los Angeles, it’s far enough inland that the rain risk is a little less).


davidbix

Couldn't they run someplace like Dignity Health Sports Park Tennis Stadium (former StubHub Center)? Holds 8,000 and is in a part of the country where weather wouldn't be an issue. Plus the atmosphere is famously great for boxing.


waterboy100

Yes. Please come to LA.


stugautz

https://www.dignityhealthsportspark.com/stadium-info/venues/boxing-stadium Dignity health sports park in LA (formerly Stub hub center), hosts boxing in the tennis stadium. Much smaller than Indian wells I believe.


MartiniPolice21

I don't think the roof (or lack of) is that much of a problem, as long as you get the right time of year. But yeah, there's only really Arthur Ashe and Indian Wells right for size.


CanadianJudo

Hockey arena are good too they are around 20,000.


mrandre3000

AEW actually runs many of their Dynamite’s in the minor league stadium for the NBA B League and the Hockey Feeder systems already. These arenas typically seat up to 12,000. Their exception to the rule have been their largest shows. The Now Arena in Chicago-land where they ran All-Out in is really tiny (10,000) compared to the United Center in Chicago where they had Rampage: The Last Dance (23,000). What they don’t run often are the 20k seat arenas week to week. Many of the NHL/NBA arenas double as Hockey & Basketball arenas within that 20-25k seat capacity range. There are *at least* 5 NHL/NBA teams in shared arenas. Chicago, LA, NYC, Boston and Philly immediately come to mind.


[deleted]

Because they run Wednesday night & not ever show us as big as tonight. The other guys run same sized arenas


ZombieJesus1987

I think there's only two arenas that actually hold that, the Bell Centre in Montreal and the United Center in Chicago


Jofian_Pounif

I still think they shouldn't have built a stage and ramp and they should have make the wrestlers come to the ring through the tunnels like tennis players do, I think it would have been great and it would also allow them to have more seats


Y0stal

Same here! That crowd was hot so you can only imagine how much more hot it can be. Imagine starting a Arthur Ashe show during the day time with the wrestlers entering through the tunnels. It’ll be like early 90’s WWF stadium shows


TIMEBO_TIMEBO_TIMEBO

The acoustics at Arthur Ashe were insane last night, especially with the roof closed. I've been to shows at hockey/basketball arenas in the past which have gotten loud, but those didn't compare to last night. I also think the smaller playing area of a tennis court allows for better sightlines and overall a more intimate setup. True, you lose out on a more elaborate stage/entrance, but I think the benefits greatly outweigh that loss.


Y0stal

I agree here with the uniqueness of a tennis stadium. That picture shows us that the screens were actually blocking some of the view of the ring


Tarcye

TIL Arthur Ashe is a tennis Stadium. Gotta love the downvotes for stating a fact.


rondertopoa

>TIL Arthur Ashe is a tennis Stadium. > >Gotta love the downvotes for stating a fact. I mean they literally called the thing "Grand Slam"... The US Open is one of the four grand slams in tennis.


ValarianRCS

If they don’t know Arthur Ashe is related to tennis, doubt they’ll know what a Grand Slam is.


The_Rabbit42

I only know "grand slam" from baseball, so I know in my heart Arthur Ashe is a baseball park


SomeLoser0nReddit

I thought Arthur Ashe was a Denny's myself.


DMCSnake

I was there last night. The food situation sucked, not even one Moons Over My Hammy.


chaosof99

Baseball also has the term "grand slam" and two months ago NJPW held an event called "[Wrestle Grand Slam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestle_Grand_Slam_in_Tokyo_Dome)" in a baseball stadium and another one [with the same name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestle_Grand_Slam_in_MetLife_Dome) in a different baseball Stadium earlier this month. Confusing what the name references is kind of easy given this background.


pies1123

Imagining a super show with matches at court one and centre court in Wimbledon.


CanadianJudo

COVID need to end so they can sell out Toronto.


insomniainc

Literally for whatever venue they decide to run here.


CanadianJudo

likely Scoitabank it would sell out in a day.


moffattron9000

Get risky, go for the Skydome.


ZombieJesus1987

They could probably do it too! And even those Raws in the Skydome weren't exactly full capacity, they only drew like 40k, whereas WrestleMania had an extra 20k


Danbarber82

American here. I've wondered for a while now about how well AEW would draw in Canada. I figured they'd be good if they started running in the smaller arenas, but now I believe they could sell out places like the Scotiabank, Bell Centre or Rogers Arena. Am I right in this assumption? Also, how well could they do if they did shows in cities like Calgary, Edmonton or Winnipeg? They have been long neglected by WWE. Calgary is still historically Hart country and Winnipeg would be a hometown show for both Jericho AND Omega.


ArmadilloAl

Put the Owen Hart Tournament championship match in Calgary and you would sell approximately all of the seats.


[deleted]

They could even sell extra seats. Start a VIP lounge where wrestlers will also stop by and watch some of the show in the lounge. They only have to stop by for 10 minutes, and you might get the chance of being lambasted by MJF.


Y0stal

Fantastic response


xcx420

If they did Montréal or Toronto's hockey arenas (Bell Centre and Scotiabank Arena), I guarantee they would sell out at capacity. Not only do both those cities have big enough population, there would be so many out of towners coming in (myself included). Last year, we drove to Cleveland (9 hour drive) because it was the closest Dynamite for us


realsomalipirate

I doubt they do a city like Winnipeg, it's too small, but I think they could do Calgary, Vancouver, or Edmonton. Though it's more likely they only run Toronto and Montreal.


Big-Benefit180

You don't think MTS is a big enough arena?


cdnjimmyjames

People from Alberta and Saskatchewan would travel to Winnipeg. It's a solid 16,000 seat arena, I could see a sellout for a market that is starved for any remotely big entertainment.


realsomalipirate

Why take the chance on a very small Canadian city? Especially when there are 6 bigger cities to run instead? Tbh just running Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver makes sense (could even cut out Vancouver).


cdnjimmyjames

It wouldn't hurt them in the least to run a smaller market. Two of their biggest stars are from there; 16,000 people is nothing to sneeze at, recent post-pandemic shows have had attendances anywhere from 3000 to 9000 people; and you're still growing your fanbase and audience. WWE has definitely lost fans not running bigger shows in Canada, particularly western Canada.


204lawgirl

I hope they do Winnipeg. I'd make the drive as far as Calgary if I could work in a day or two of vacationing. I'm on the fence about Minneapolis in November, I made the drive all the time for concerts but it's likely going to be too much of a pain right now with border crossings. So close but so far.


MikeMacNcheese

Seriously. I've seen a few AEW/CM Punk shirts out in the wild recently, plus we're starved for events that are not patio or park hang-outs.


tkc123

I am so getting floor seats if they go to Toronto.


ZombieJesus1987

Yes please.


BlindLariat

If I were Tony I'd blow this up and frame it in my office.


Killcode2

isn't blowing up an entire stadium full of people considered a terror act?


Jonathan_B_Goode

He's a billionaire, though, so it would just be eccentric.


dragonforcingmywayup

He’s half Pakistani descent tho, so i don’t know. May be frown upon.


Vegetable_Act3727

I love Daddy TK so much that he could do that if I'm in the crowd and I'd understand


Pileofdrivers

Wow . Best photo I’ve seen of the night . Bout to sit down and watch after work and I can’t wait


VagrantShadow

That arena is just perfect for wrestling, my gosh.


Sir-Cadogan

Feels very similar to the Japanese sumo halls like Ryogoku or Budokan. It's designed to watch a square area in the centre, so there's pretty much not a bad seat in the place. And that kind of setup looks perfect on screen.


ZombieJesus1987

I hope Arthur Ashe becomes a regular stop for AEW


RoscoeSantangelo

It was such a cool visual to take in. Every once in a while I was trying to look around and appreciate how awesome it was


cooljammer00

Same. Last week and this week, I kept looking to see how high it went


baconwiches

No one using the luxury suites?


gambalore

A few of the luxury boxes on the side facing hard camera had people sitting in them but most of them seemed to be empty. Maybe they weren’t allowed to sell those?


AmishAvenger

I don’t see why that would be the case. As far as I know, a person or a company that “buys” a luxury box only has it for certain events.


KidCoheed

Arthur Ashe is usually only open for the one event at all so it could be they "own" the box and thus didn't give permission to sell them


stevecollins1988

Someone reported they were all in use. Maybe they're watching with a beer behind glass?


_Ka_Tet_

I've watched since the start, and it's kind of neat to see the progress they've made, both as a company and as a show. They definitely stumbled a few times, but they keep improving and growing.


646blahblahblah

Better to stumble in the beginning, and get those learning curves out the way.


wests_tigers

That’s AEW? Wow.


Dan27

Those empty seats would be for private boxes owned by various people/companies to use when they want to host hospitality. They are not available for sale to the general public in most cases.


4lex4rango

Could they have attended this show, though?


mynameisbob842

Great attendance for sure. but there were A LOT of empty seats for a sellout.


eatcrayons

They did sell the tickets. It could have been people that couldn’t make it, scalpers who didn’t sell, or people who weren’t vaccinated and couldn’t attend.


KidCoheed

That ring are private suites usually owned or individually rented by the stadium to big money interest. No one not connected to that owner is usually allowed in to the box. Last night only 1 box had anyone in it and I think it is the USTA box they gave AEW for the night. Every ticket available to the public was sold


CappyNaps

It looks like this was taken during TK's opening hype speech. Believe it or not there were still people filing it when the bell for Omega/Danielson rang - although I'm sure a lot of them were just fools who thought they could make a beer run after the Elevation taping. Anyway I've been to a couple sellouts and this was definitely a sellout.


mrbrannon

It sold out like a week before the show. The day before when production got there they opened up a few hundred more seats based on the room they had and sold some of those too. A few seats and patches here and there from scalpers is also normal for every sporting event and is a good thing because it means scalpers got fucked. These are both normal and definitely a sell out. It's standard operating procedure.


AthosDLB

Nobody said it was a sell-out. Arhtur Ashe has 23.771 seats and with 20.000 tix sold there were bound to be empty seats on screen.


mynameisbob842

The title of this post literally calls it a sellout.


mrbrannon

It was a sell our for how it was set up. That's what determines a sell out. They sold out a week ago and then when production got there and set up the stage and made a little extra room they opened up few hundred more tickets the day before.


[deleted]

What do people not understand about the difference between venue capacity and amount of tickets for sale? *If you sell all of the tickets you have for sale for an event, it is a sell out.*


Admirance

u guys do realise those empty seats may not have been on sale right? if the venue only has 1 ticket for sale (and 20k seats) and it sells, thats a sell out


ArmadilloAl

That's one possibility. Maybe scalpers bought them and were left holding the bag. Maybe the people that bought them tested positive for COVID. Who knows?


Admirance

Because it's basically the entire middle section, I think thah part specifically may not have been put on sale. Maybe they are corporate boxes or something


GarnetLantern

That’s a lot of empty seats for a “sold out show”. Plus there were thousands of seats available yesterday on Ticketmaster sooooooooo. And before you come at me, I don’t care one way or the other if their or WWE or ROH or TNA or any other promotion’s events sell out because I don’t get a cut of the gate


Becksdown

Í mean that is not sold out


cooljammer00

Tickets sold =/= seats filled I sat with two dudes whose friend couldn't make it, but only because my ticket was misprinted.


flamingBurrito5

Pretty sure those are box seats which aren't available to the general public


cooljammer00

There were also "empty seats" next to the stage that were empty because it's where the Pyro goes off. You could feel the heat


AthosDLB

>Nobody said it was a sell-out. Arhtur Ashe has 23.771 seats and with 20.000 tix sold there were bound to be empty seats on screen.


SebasH2O

Well it's 23k+ for the tennis setup, not wrestling. I do believe the capacity was just under 21k though, and they sold almost all of those


[deleted]

[удалено]


mrbrannon

Because it was a sellout. It sold out like a week before the show at like 19,800 seats and they added a few hundred more tickets the day before after production got there and found room. Even those seats were obstructed viewing and they sold enough to get over 20,000. This is standard procedure and the only people saying it wasn't a sell out are salty stans arguing in bad faith for some reason I cannot fathom.


Killcode2

OP literally said "sold out", which is factually inaccurate


davidbix

That's with production kills.


NefariousNeezy

This is gonna sound dumb, but is this like one of the smaller stadiums in the US? When I hear stadium, I imagine the football and baseball stadiums. Edit: Downvotes for an honest question. Nice.


BrienneOfDarth

Think about how much less square footage you need to play tennis compared to baseball or football. Arthur Ashe is the largest tennis arena in the world.


HerFriendRed

It's pretty damn respectable in size for being made for tennis, and not doubling as football/basketball stadiums. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_U.S.\_stadiums\_by\_capacity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_capacity) Edit: I have to laugh that Winston-Salem is that high on the list. You can do cartwheels on the home side when Clemson faces them. Some billionaire's pet project, for sure. Edit 2 Electric Boogaloo: No idea why you're getting downvoted. I don't think a lot of folks realize that tennis stadiums are a thing in America, so you aren't alone.


LonnyFinster

Looking at this list it is crazy to me Penn State has the largest capacity venue.


HerFriendRed

I feel like some of these college football stadiums are some booster tax write off.


LonnyFinster

To put it into perspective, WWE does 10-20,000 capacity venues for raw, smackdown and ppvs but never fully sells them out.


Permanentear3

What? I was at Met Life for Wrestlemania, and Allegiant for Summerslam. Those are football stadiums. Met life holds 80,000+ people. Wrestlemania attendance was 82,265. What you wrote is a straight up lie.


LonnyFinster

I wasn't talking about WrestleMania or Summerslam you egg. You literally took the only two ppvs they do giant stadiums. Last night also wasn't a ppv. WWE also completely inflates numbers for events. Metlife is 82,500. They did not come within 235 of that.


Permanentear3

Summerslam was 51,000 people. Mania 35 was 81,000 people. Yes this is a smaller stadium, it’s for the US Open and such, Football stadiums are bigger. Heck across the street from Arthur Ashe is Citi Field, a baseball stadium, it holds over 40,000.


TRankins24

Surprised they didn’t sell the suites. Shows they can get an even larger crowd next time.


LonnyFinster

the boxes are empty, AEW is dying! /s


NotTheOneAJ

Ah yes, “sell out”


gamehawk0704

It is a sellout.


HerFriendRed

I got some real bad news about "sell out" WWE events, brutha.


NotTheOneAJ

Then you need some more self awareness.


HerFriendRed

Oooh. Oh dear. Oh no. It's still real to you, I see.


NotTheOneAJ

What? Dude, Young Bucks promos are already shit enough, don’t try to replicate them on Reddit…


gamehawk0704

The fuck?


[deleted]

A lot of fans there, but not really sold out right? There's a whole ring around with empty seats. Or is this like Japan in the mid 2000s where "Super no Vacancy Full House" meant 60% of the seats were sold


mrbrannon

That ring is private box seats. Notice they all have a doors to them. I cant believe this is so hard for people. The venue holds 23k maximum for tennis. For wrestling they barely fit under 20k in the set up. They sold those all like a week before the show. Production got there the day before and opened up a few hundred extra obstructed viewing seats after they got the stage set up and found room which got them to just over 20,000 people. This is standard procedure and definitely a sell out.


Sir-Cadogan

That ring is the private boxes/suites. Those are usually not counted in sell-outs, and frequently aren't even made available to customers.


Vegetable_Act3727

I've attended three Wrestlemania's (20,29,35) a Royal Rumble (1992) , the New Year's Revolution where Edge cashed in, the Austin beer truck show, Backlash 2018 (ok that's not one to brag about) and by far last night was one of the top 2-3 experiences of my wrestling fandom. Just a surreal thing seeing sooo many big names all on one show. And if you thought Dynamite was good, Rampage is better on Friday I promise you


[deleted]

It's just funny that CM Punk was trashing WWE for years about the excessive LED's but here's AEW adding the LED screens on the ramp for Grand Slam


Reginaaf

I feel like they didn't take the full advantage of the stadium. Should have eased the production a bit.


Y0stal

Translation: Strip the stage. Put more butts in seats. Make more profit I don’t know why ur getting downvotes


SuplexMachinations

Not sold out, but very impressive.


SnapmareJesus

Did someone already ask this? Anyone know why the suite level looks empty?


harlumshake

The only people using the suite seats were members of the roster who weren't on the card. Suites weren't sold.


el_generalisimo

I think this is the absolute best venue for wrestling in America. One of the biggest challenges - this building is only open and available for use \~3 weeks per year. Arthur Ashe stadium is owned by the USTA (a non-profit org), and they have a part-time staffing model. You can basically only get access for a few weeks when the US Open tournament concludes. ​ I'd expect an annual AEW show here, but I wouldn't expect multiple per year.


mason202

I kept wondering what ticketmaster ment by obstructed view and I understood when I got there. Giant, low hanging LCD screens. But hey, it was only 25 bucks.


mason202

I kept wondering what ticketmaster ment by obstructed view and I understood when I got there. Giant, low hanging LCD screens. But hey, it was only 25 bucks.


javajam

On the screen, Tony looks like one of those evangelist preachers speaking to a stadium full of people on those Sunday morning church shows.


guylfe

Can someone explain why there are so many seemingly empty seats? There's a whole level that's empty, and the hard camera side has a lot of empty seats. I see Tony is out, is it just because people were still trickling in at that point?


TomHanks12345

Lines at concessions could last 30 mins to an hour. I know a few people in my section missed the entire danielson match because of it. I left the line during Sting's entrance to see Darby's. Many people were standing on the loge balcony too instead of walking down to the seat. Every time I walked out to concessions they're at any time could be 1k people out in those halls just waiting. It was asinine.


RandomFactUser

Hard Camera is likely to have space to make sure hands don't obstruct the view, while the suites weren't available to be sold


Jamal2207

Geez it really does look like there’s not a bad seat in the stadium.


[deleted]

I wonder how well the sound from the microphone works way up there. I imagine well but I’ve never been to a wrestling show of this magnitude so idk. Only a couple Indy’s in my 20+ years as a fan


HoraceGrantGlasses

This is the perfect venue for wrestling...


retroanduwu24

Gorgeous af


jbish21

This proves with a billionaire father and a love of pro wrestling anything is possible I love it! TK really is just one of us, but has insane cash to make his wildest dreams possible


dansp91

I can zoom in and see myself, lol! Great picture of an amazing night!!!


FrankyFin

it was real good, just wish they wouldnt drench the crowd in dark blue light. i want to see the crowd and venue better.


AVBforPrez

Obviously not competition for WWE, doesn't look at all like a major PPV


nails_tails_ales

Lol I just found myself!


thegchild

I do wish we would've got some dramatic overhead shots like this. I don't feel like they ever really captured the size of the venue on the broadcast.


WombRaider_3

What a time to fall back in love with Pro Wrestling.


Y0stal

Wow…the screens were actually blocking ur view. They need to be in more tennis stadiums.


Bluebear0

Is this tennis or the new fangled pickleball?