My Friday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review talks about WrestleMania, the process of cities getting it and more. Here’s an excerpt:
I spoke to a WWE source who is confirming WrestleMania 33 will take place at Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., in 2017.
It is expected an official announcement by WWE could come as early as next week with full details, including the date. I’ve been told promotional materials have been made with two different dates, April 2 and April 9, as it’s being finalized with the city and stadium.
Social media had mixed reviews after I mentioned this. Some were excited for the sunny, tourist-friendly destination. Others, of course, were wishing for their city to host the sports entertainment spectacle. Let me address some common comments and questions.
Yes, WWE held WrestleMania 24 at the same venue in 2008. Well, kinda the same venue. Then, Citrus Bowl was just about out of juice, not in the best condition. WWE worked overtime in window-dressing the facility to make it look much better than it was when the doors opened for them. However, this will be a new Citrus Bowl as extensive renovations took place in 2014 to make into one of the state-of-the-art stadiums in the country. It’s the same name, same location but in much better working order.
Cities bid for WrestleMania. And just as they do for other events like the Super Bowl or the Olympics, a pitch process is involved in the decision making. What’s the status and choices of venues? Remember, WWE has WrestleMania and a week of other events including Axxess, NXT, Hall of Fame and Monday Night RAW. How many hotel rooms in the area? What’s the airport situation? Public transportation? All of this and more come into play with the respective locations’ government representatives making the case for why they should host WrestleMania.
It’s a case worth fighting for as WrestleMania has proven to be a money-making machine. WWE touted continued success with WrestleMania 31 week at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Their corporate site reports:
• $139 million in direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by visitors to the Santa Clara/San Jose region for WrestleMania 31.
• 78 percent of fans who attended WrestleMania were from outside the greater Santa Clara/San Jose region and stayed an average of 3.3 nights.
• $22 million was spent on hotels and accommodations within the Santa Clara/San Jose region.
• The economic impact derived from WrestleMania week was equal to the creation of 1,218 full-time jobs for the area.
• $6.2 million was spent by visitors to the Santa Clara/San Jose region at area restaurants.
It makes me wonder how any city — unless they feel they don’t have the facilities to support this kind of volume — wouldn’t put their name in the hat. Toronto gets constant requests from fans on social media who are disappointed WWE hasn’t done as many “big” events in the Canadian city in recent years. I’ve heard from several people in the media industry based in Toronto that officials there aren’t interested in WrestleMania despite a strong wrestling fan base. If that’s the case, I’d love to know the reasoning.
But, hey, at least Toronto got to host WrestleMania 6 and 18. London — like every city outside of the United States and Canada — has never hosted WrestleMania. This is a hot-button issue from the passionate international viewers. They stay up to watch Monday Night RAW, which doesn’t come on live in the UK until 2 a.m. and ends at 5 a.m. This is every week, and some weeks RAW is just not good, but they have to stay up to find out live for themselves. Talk about dedication. They want a WrestleMania and constantly reflect to the great success that SummerSlam in 1992 was at Wembley Stadium. It is often considered to be the greatest SummerSlam and packed more than 80,000 fans in.
I love the UK wrestling fans. Meeting and interacting with them is one of my favorite things about my job when traveling to major WWE events. Their energy and excitement is genuine and can’t be duplicated. They would make the most of hosting the big event, but friends, I’m afraid I’ve got bad news. I don’t think any city in the UK will host a WrestleMania anytime in the foreseeable future.
CLICK HERE—Why UK won’t get WrestleMania and big debut potential for WWE next year in Orlando
