Mark Shapiro comments on Las Vegas getting WrestleMania 41.
On May 4, WWE announced that Las Vegas would host WrestleMania 41 with both nights taking place at Allegiant Stadium. Minnesota was the reported front runner for the event, but Vegas ended up winning the right to host WWE's biggest show of the year.
Speaking on the TKO Quarterly Financials Call, TKO President Mark Shapiro commented on Vegas' offer to host WrestleMania.
"Ari (Emanuel) is really focusing on festivalizing our events. Further than we’re doing it right now. With concerts, the weigh in, culinary taste opportunity, which you see at events like the US Open in New York. Making our events really attractive to the hardcore sports fan, but also making it more of a cultural event. The more we can do that, we can really expand the stay. The event becomes a one-day, two-day, three-day, it really moves from one to three days, which is something that cities have communicated to us that they would like to see more of, and they can spend more from their tourism bureau if we could expand the number of days we come to town. We’re driving it hard in the sense of improving the quality of our overall events with timeline, duration, and the content itself. At the same time, driving a hard bargain and really pitting these cities up against each other. We’re going to Vegas for WrestleMania, but truthfully, we easily could have gone to Minneapolis. In fact, for a while, they looked like the favorite until Vegas came in at the end and trumped them. It’s being really transparent with these cities and local government officials, letting them know what they have to do, using the power of our leverage, our relationships, and the demand for our content to get us the price and the numbers," he said.
Minnesota will host a two-night WWE SummerSlam in 2026.
Elsewhere during the call, Shapiro commented on WWE moving to Netflix. Fans can find his full comments by clicking here.
Las Vegas' successful bid to host WrestleMania 41 highlights the growing trend of cities vying for major events to boost tourism and local revenue. The competitive atmosphere among potential hosts is akin to the rising demand for entertainment, including the popularity of gaming options like the best pokies online Australia has to offer.
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