Sports entertainment powerhouse WWE has struck a broad-based, first-of-its-kind partnership that will bring three WWE stadium events, including WrestleMania, to Indianapolis, starting with the Royal Rumble on Feb. 1, 2025, per an exclusive report from The Hollywood Reporter.
Call it a triple coup (for Indiana) thanks to the creative success of “Triple H” Paul Levesque (the former wrestler who is now chief content officer of WWE) and his team.
Under the deal with the Indiana Sports Corp, unveiled on Monday, the wrestling promotion, part of TKO Group, will also put on a two-night WrestleMania and a two-night SummerSlam in Indianapolis in future years. The events are considered three of WWE’s “big four” premium live events of the year, with the fourth being Survivor Series.
Additionally, under the partnership, Raw, SmackDown, NXT and WWE live events will emanate from arenas across Indiana, including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville.
Financial details weren’t disclosed, but sources said the deal involves the largest site fee ever for a WrestleMania and for a Royal Rumble.
Thanks to the success of its wrestling storylines with audiences, especially over the past year, WWE has seen high demand for its live shows and has been able to charge attendees higher fees. It has also allowed the company to get venues and cities to pay it money to attract and host WWE events, making such site fees a new growth opportunity.
TKO analyst Curry Baker wrote in January that “site fees are poised to become a major contributor to live events revenue and profitability.” He argued that “this is one area that is already off to a strong start with the UFC/Saudi and Australia/WWE announcements.” The latter saw the government of Western Australia bring WWE’s premium live event Elimination Chamber to Perth in February. “Management noted that the Perth event is WWE’s largest site fee ever,” Baker highlighted.
“WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble have a combined economic impact of more than $300 million, as the events bring hundreds of thousands of people into the host city from all 50 states and dozens of countries throughout the world,” WWE said on Monday. “To date in 2024, WrestleMania and Royal Rumble set all-time WWE records for viewership, gate, sponsorship, merchandise and social media.”
Patrick Talty, president of Indiana Sports Corp, touted the “groundbreaking” partnership, saying: “For over four decades, our city’s sports strategy has brought in millions of visitors and priceless hours of international brand-building media coverage. This partnership with WWE continues to push that strategy forward in new and exciting ways.”
Founded in 1979, Indiana Sports Corp has attracted hundreds of events, including Super Bowl XLVI to the state. “In total, these events have led to more than $4 billion in direct spending in the community,” according to the organization.
“Indianapolis is a fantastic city for major events and we’re excited to invite the WWE Universe to Lucas Oil Stadium for Royal Rumble in 2025, and a future SummerSlam and WrestleMania,” said Chris Legentil, WWE executive vp, talent relations & head of communications at WWE. “Patrick and the team at Indiana Sports Corp have done a phenomenal job bolstering local economics and tourism, and we’re proud to partner with them to shine a light on the great state of Indiana.”
