WM32 Live Reports – AT&T Stadium & WWE put people at risk with ticketing system, especially floor seating


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The collaboration between WWE and AT&T Stadium for the WrestleMania 32 live event included fans being put at risk both outside the stadium standing in one place for hours beyond reason and inside the stadium for how throngs of fans were herded to their sections, according to numerous live correspondents.

A public statement released Sunday night claimed “increased security measures” led to a delay in fans being let inside the building. There was a SWAT Team presence at the stadium. There was also an issue with WiFi going down at times, not allowing ticket-takers to scan tickets in certain ticket entry areas of the stadium. Other lines worked fine and fans were able to enter the stadium without issue.

One of the biggest overall concern was fans in certain sections of the stadium being put at risk, especially those trying to access the floor seating area.

Steve Taylor wrote: AT&T Stadium staff funneled EVERYONE who had floor seats or first tier riser seats to one corridor on one side of the stadium at Section 229. They wanted to give out wristbands after another ticket check through another vinyl rope-line further into the corridor. We were wall-to-wall as far as the eye could see on multiple levels of corridors.

People began to pass out from the surrounding body heat. It took them 10 minutes to get a medic to one older gentleman who fainted in front of us. Another girl had a seizure near us as well. Finally, police and staff on the ramp leading into the corridor ordered AT&T to remove the ticket check/wristband vinyl rope-line to let us move through faster. It was so hot and very scary. It was so hard to breathe as people were firmly pressed into each other. We were herded like cattle with no where to go.

It took those medical emergencies and orders for them to relent on the wristbands, it seems. If the fainting victims had been cardiac cases, they would’ve been dead due to it taking such a long time for paramedics to reach them due to the overcrowding. People could have also been trampled as people were becoming very panicked and angry.

This should not have happened! Whose brilliant idea was it to do another ticket check and hand out wristbands after we got into the stadium? And, whose brilliant idea was it to funnel everyone through ONE corridor (at Section 229) to reach the floor and first tier risers?

unnamed (1)I have attached a picture I took with my cellphone. This is after the crowd had thinned out a bit as you can see some light at the end of the last corridor after we made the last turn down toward the field. It was much worse than this before this last turn in the corridor.

As for the statement about lines being long due to security checks, one person just glanced in our bag and there was a metal wanding. That’s it. Standard at any venue I’ve been to. There were no additional security checks or any other security processes.

– Brandon Beane wrote: I’m sure you heard about the ticket problems with the systems not working correctly when the doors first opened. My friends and I got into the stadium with no real issues at first. We got in right after 4:00 p.m. We had floor seats and apparently there was only one access tunnel they intended most of us to use to get down there.

They also were requiring us all to have a paper wristband to get down there. Well, when we got to the entrance to that tunnel they were out of wristbands and it was about 4:15 p.m. at that point. I’m a shorter guy so I couldn’t get a great look, but held up my phone it seemed to be hundreds of people crammed in the most uncomfortable space. You couldn’t move anywhere.

Kids were crying and the crowd was chanting “this is b.s.” and “let us in” repeatedly. There seemed to be some medical issue with one guy so it got crazy for a second. Once he got out of the area, it seemed to open up.

We made it down a long tunnel to our seats finally around 6:05 p.m. We never got the wristband that was supposed to be the hold-up. So we stood there for basically two hours for no reason.

1 Comment on WM32 Live Reports – AT&T Stadium & WWE put people at risk with ticketing system, especially floor seating

  1. Similar to our experience. We waited outside in a massive line for at least two hours. It only started to move with any rapidity once they went from just two people checking tickets to multiple ticket tackers. Absolutely bush league and contemptuous of its fan base.

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