WWE continues to expand its social media reach with Royal Rumble

NEW YORK (AP) — WWE continues to expand its social media reach as its successful blend of wrestling and celebrities took center stage at its Royal Rumble premium live event over the weekend.

The sports entertainment company said Monday that this year's Royal Rumble set a record for most social video views in the event's history. An encounter in the ring between wrestler Bron Breakker and popular streamer IShowSpeed became the most-viewed Royal Rumble social post of all-time, with more than 300 million social views in less than 24 hours.

IShowSpeed, who has appeared at other WWE events including WrestleMania 40, has more than 35 million subscribers on YouTube. Logan Paul, who also participated in this weekend's men's Royal Rumble match, has more than 23 million YouTube subscribers.

WWE currently has more than 100 million subscribers on YouTube. That easily dwarfs the National Football League, which has nearly 14 million subscribers; the National Basketball Association, with more than 22 million subscribers; Major League Baseball, with 6 million subscribers; and the National Hockey League, which has close to 3 million subscribers.

Merchandise sales, which were in partnership with Fanatics, soared more than 95% compared with the prior Royal Rumble record set last year. And sponsorship revenue jumped 94% compared with the previous record set in 2024.

The premium live event, which was broadcast on Peacock in the United States on Saturday, set a Royal Rumble viewership record, up almost 14% domestically from a year earlier.

This year's Royal Rumble, which saw Jey Uso win the men's namesake match and Charlotte Flair win the women's, was held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as part of a partnership with Indiana Sports Corp. Aside from the Royal Rumble, the deal, announced last year, will bring WWE's SummerSlam and WrestleMania to Indianapolis in future years.

WWE, which is part of TKO Group Holdings, previously said that WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble have a combined economic impact of more than $300 million.

The agreement also includes WWE television shows, Raw, Smackdown and NXT, as well as WWE live events taking place at arenas in locations including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville throughout the partnership.