NJPW Financials for 2018, Plus Update on Wrestle Kingdom Ticket Sales

New Japan will be hosting their annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4th. Wrestle Kingdom is the biggest show in the New Japan calendar and 2019’s event looks stellar. Whilst there are no official number New Japan confirmed on Twitter that sales for the show are still ahead of the pace of this year’s show. This year’s show featured the big international bout between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, causing ticket sales to go from 26,192 in 2017 to 34,995 in 2018.

The Wrestling Observer has also posted an update on New Japan’s financials for 2018. Whilst totals aren’t “official,” the 2018 revenues are “expected to fall at about $43.6 million, up from $35 million last year, a 25 percent increase.” Dave Meltzer attributed the increase to “live event ticket sales, but merchandise in 2018 was four times that of 2013, stemming from the LIJ sales and the U.S. market Hot Topic T-shirt sales.” It was also confirmed that the NJPWWorld service is up, with over 100,000 subscribers, compared to 60,000 at the same point last year in mid December.