Thinking about attending the AEW Grand Slam Dynamite and Rampage taping next week at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York? Would being able to bring a friend for free help sway you?
AEW seems to be hoping so. As pointed out by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, with ticket sales for Grand Slam on a much slower pace this year than in 2022, the company is offering a buy one, get one free deal.
There's a "buy one, get one" discount being offered (with a promo code) for AEW at Arthur Ashe Stadium next week.
WrestleTix most recent count of tickets out is 6,284. Last year's final count was 13,321. pic.twitter.com/DsTuKe9Z9v
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) September 12, 2023
There are, as you may expect, some caveats. You need to enter the code (BTSNYC) by clicking the ‘Unlock’ button on Ticketmaster’s page for the show. Once you do, you’ll see that the BOGO offer is good for seats only in some of the 300-level sections on the far side from the stage.
Still, using the deal can get you a pair of tickets for Grand Slam for less than $50, fees included, which is pretty good considering that even one seat in the last row of seats on the hard camera side of the stadium costs almost that much on its own.
Rising ticket prices for Grand Slam has been one of the complaints heard often from fans in the New York area, who point out that AEW priced the debut show in 2021 to draw as many people as possible. Now that it’s an established part of the schedule, AEW has priced it like … well, like any of its shows, really, with tickets increasing in cost year over year.
At the same time, it’s fair to say that some of the uniqueness of shows at Arthur Ashe Stadium have worn off going into their third year, and Grand Slam definitely has been somewhat lost amid other, bigger events — including the debuting WrestleDream, which is coming up quickly in early October.
Still, a BOGO deal certainly can’t hurt, and might help make up some of the gap between last year’s attendance and what’s been sold so far for 2023.