WWE has had attendance issues in the past lately, but this photo really puts things into perspective.
Gone are the days when WWE would jam-pack arenas on a weekly basis for Raw and SmackDown. Today, fans seem more content to watch from the comfort of their own homes. The argument could also be made that the product’s popularity has died down.
Last night’s episode of SmackDown Live in Detroit is a great example of this. Several accounts from people in the audience claim that the attendance for the event was extremely low. One fan on Twitter claimed that “40%” of the arena was tarped off:
https://twitter.com/TDC1987/status/1037117160781504512
Wow… a lot of empty seats for #205Live tonight… 😕
— Above The Ring (@AboveTheRing) September 5, 2018
It was also noted that, after SmackDown Live tapings wrapped and 205 Live tapings begun, even more fans began to leave. One fan took issue with this, as he believes the 205 Live program is some of the best in-ring action WWE has to offer right now:
“I still can’t get over all these empty seats in the arena. #205Live is consistently one of the best hours of in-ring action each week, and most of this arena decided to leave after #SmackDown.”
https://twitter.com/chris_slater/status/1037164998227832833
