Ticket Resale Issues Mar SmackDown Crowd in Riyadh – The January 30, 2026 edition of WWE SmackDown took place at a newly constructed stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, just one night before the Royal Rumble premium live event. While the show marked another major international presentation for WWE, noticeable crowd issues quickly became a talking point during the broadcast.
At the start of SmackDown, Michael Cole stated on commentary that approximately 18,000 fans were expected to be in attendance. He also referred to the audience as a “late-arriving” crowd. Despite that explanation, numerous empty seats were clearly visible throughout the show, raising questions among viewers watching both locally and internationally.
Following the event, fans in Saudi Arabia began voicing concerns on social media regarding how tickets were distributed. Several attendees claimed tickets were not properly sold through the official platform and instead surfaced on secondary resale websites. According to those reports, tickets for the Royal Rumble that were originally priced at 80 Saudi Riyals, roughly $21 USD, were being resold for as much as 1,012 Riyals, or approximately $270 USD.
X user @ali_a_marafi shared a detailed post translated from Arabic that shed light on the situation. He praised multiple aspects of the SmackDown event, including the crowd energy, organization, stadium, and stage presentation, but emphasized that ticket resale practices negatively impacted the overall atmosphere. He wrote, “The black market and the way tickets are being resold completely destroyed the final look of the crowd attendance. A large number of seats were empty.”
The post further clarified that the lack of attendance was not due to disinterest in wrestling or dissatisfaction with the show. Instead, it was attributed to inflated resale prices that made attendance inaccessible for many fans. He added, “People simply cannot afford the insane prices… I hope they find a quick solution and release tickets at reasonable prices so that everyone can attend and fill the stands.”
With the Royal Rumble set to take place later today in Riyadh, the issue has drawn additional attention due to the event’s historic significance as the first Royal Rumble held in the Arab world. The situation highlights ongoing challenges with ticket distribution and resale markets, particularly for high-profile international WWE events.
Ticket Resale Issues Mar SmackDown Crowd in Riyadh
WA on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wrestlingattitude/
WA on Facebook (Women's Wrestling) - https://www.facebook.com/WrestlingDivas/
WA on X/Twitter - https://x.com/wa_wrestling
WA on Instagram (Women's Wrestling) - https://www.instagram.com/wa_wrestlingattitude/
WA on Google News - https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMJf3owsw2oG8Aw
WA on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/wrestlingattitude.bsky.social
