Fightful has been contacted by multiple paid members of the Impact audience in regards to the process they went through to join the crowd.
One told us they discovered the casting call from a friend, and 2 PM EST Tuesday, they were confirmed for the Wednesday tapings. The person was there for Bound For Glory and said that the attendance seemed significant and the crowd started out hot before dying off later Sunday night.
Upon arriving to the Aberdeen Pavilion for tapings at 6:45 PM EST Wednesday, casting-paid attendees filled out paperwork and a roll-call sheet. They were instructed not to tell anyone in the crowd they were paid to be there, as many in the crowd had paid for their tickets. The attendees were also told to have fun and make noise as much as possible, and that signs may be circulated, although none of those we spoke to saw any being handed out. Profanity was also specified as being off limits as the crew had issues with a couple of fans stepping over the line the night before.
Casting-paid attendees didn't make up much of the crowd, and were primarily there to fill gaps in the crowd, which waned as the show went on. There were a couple of areas curtained off, but an extra row was opened up at the start of the night as all of the floor seats were sold.
For the Thursday set of tapings, there were roughly 350 people, but not sold out. Several members of the audience were paying customers, and when one person asked Ed Nordholm for a photo, Nordholm asked what the photo was for, and then denied being himself.
Fightful.com was originally given the number of roughly "a hundred" for the Monday crowd, which we've since been told was excluding comps. Those within the company told us "several hundred."
You can see a Fightful.com video news update on the situation above.
