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Abbotsford Centre profits for WWE, Globetrotters revealed

The Harlem Globetrotters earned $81,436 for 2015 performance, while WWE took in $145,595 from last year's show.
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The Harlem Globetrotters have performed several times at Abbotsford Centre.

Two prominent entertainment acts made significantly more when they returned to Abbotsford in 2015 than the previous year, according to a report released this week.

Tucked within the city’s most recent Statement of Financial Information presented to council’s committee of the whole this week were payouts to the Harlem Globetrotters and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), two groups that have put on shows at the city-owned Abbotsford Centre over the last two years.

The money was paid to the groups after the deduction of rent and other expenses, including marketing, charged by Abbotsford Centre.

According to the figures, the Globetrotters – a world-famous basketball team known for its tricks and humour – received $81,436 in 2015, more than double the $32,548 they earned for a show the previous year.

That payout was a little more than half of the revenue from last February’s performance. With 5,268 tickets sold, the performance generated $178,670. That was up from $156,973 in 2014.

The WWE, meanwhile, earned $145,595 for their March 2015 performance, up from $123,772 the organization made for their 2014 Abbotsford Centre performance. The wrestlers generated a total revenue of $216,328 thanks to 4,842 tickets sold.

Both were likely paid in U.S. dollars, and the loonie’s slumping value between 2014 and 2015 would contribute to some of the increase in performance pay-outs.

Andrew Nash, Abbotsford Centre's general manager, told The News: "2015 for both WWE and the Globetrotters was the highest ticketed sales shows they’ve had to date here at the Abbotsford Centre. As the promoters of those shows, they rent the facility and also have agreed upon expenses they will incur for doing the shows, one example of that would be for marketing. "

"The venue sells the tickets and holds the ticket revenue on behalf of and in trust of the promoter. Following the event, the remaining amount of the ticket revenue, minus the facility rental cost and the agreed upon expenses, is paid to the promoter as it is their revenue from the event that they are promoting.

"Basically, the more tickets sold to the event means more revenue for the promoter or vice versa the less tickets sold means less revenue for the promoter which causes the change in payments year to year."