WRESTLEMANIA the GLORYWRESTLEMANIA BODYSLAMS ITS WAY to the TOP at 35, WRESTLEMANIA Bigis a Stadium-Worthy Spectacle and More, WWE’S Version of the Super Bowl
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APRIL 2019 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 4 VENUESNOW.COM APRIL 2019 2019 APRIL Q1 TOP STOPS CASINO VENUES ESPORTS ABROAD VOLUME 18 NUMBER 4 NUMBER 18 VOLUME BRAD WAVRA LESSONS OF ‘HAMILTON’ VENUESNOW.COM THE POWER & WRESTLEMANIA THE GLORYWRESTLEMANIA BODYSLAMS ITS WAY TO THE TOP At 35, WRESTLEMANIA BIGis a stadium-worthy spectacle and more, WWE’s version of the Super Bowl WrestleMania 34 drew 78,133 fans to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome last year. 28 APRIL 2019 DECK GRAPHIX REGULAR 1416 ECERIONIMUS VOLESTI AT CHASE CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO QU FERO ET, SI NONECAT URERCILIS EUMQUOS AUT IPSAE. ET OMNI BERO ET, IUM QUE BYLINE PRODUKT SEMIBOLD BY DON MURET DON BY TIMEAPRIL 2019 2929 METLIFE STADIUM CONGRATULATES WWE ON THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF WRESTLEMANIA! N MARCH , , Madison 40 countries attending multiple Square Garden played host to the events. Over the past four decades, rst WrestleMania, drawing a it’s expanded from a single-night sellout crowd of 19,121. More than spectacle to a week lled with a million viewers watched it on events tied to the annual celebra- closed circuit at arenas and the- tion of all things pro wrestling. aters, producing what at the time WrestleMania 35, set for April was one of the industry’s high- 7, takes center stage at MetLife est-grossing pay-per-view events. Stadium in New Jersey for the Muhammad Ali served as guest second time in six years. In referee for the headline match, addition, WWE agship brands a tag-team bout pitting Hulk Smackdown, Monday Night Raw Hogan and Mr. T against Paul and NXT Takeover, the circuit’s Orndor and “Rowdy” Roddy development league, are booked Piper. (Hogan/Mr. T won with at Barclays Center. The Brooklyn an assist from Jimmy “Supery” arena also hosts WWE’s Hall Snuka). Pop singer Cyndi Lauper, of Fame induction dinner and immersed in the wrestling culture ceremonies. Elsewhere in the through her music videos with borough, Axxess 2019, WWE’s fan grizzled grappler Captain Lou festival, sets up at the Brooklyn Albano, was among the ring com- Pier 12 Cruise Terminal. Several petitors. Liberace added sparkle charitable events are scheduled in his appearance with Radio throughout the week in the region City’s Rockettes. with wrestlers making hospital It was just the beginning of visits, among other appearances something big in the business of connected to social causes in the live entertainment and the family community. show category. Fast forward to 2019 “WrestleMania is the place and WWE’s WrestleMania brand where once a year everything has reached global proportions. taking place in the WWE universe This year, the 35th edition returns converges in spectacular fashion,” to its birthplace in the New York/ said John Saboor, WWE’s execu- New Jersey market and expects to draw 160,000 people from CONTINUED ON PAGE 32 PREVIOUS PAGES COURTESY SMG; LEFT COURTESY WWE COURTESY LEFT SMG; COURTESY PAGES PREVIOUS Grand entrance: Charlotte Flair, WWE legend Ric Flair’s daughter. 30 APRIL 2019 METLIFE STADIUM CONGRATULATES WWE ON THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF WRESTLEMANIA! WrestleMania 31 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., drew 76,796, one of the venue’s highest attendance totals. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30 Saboor knows WrestleMania well. As president of the Central Florida Sports Commission, he played a key role for tive vice president of special events. “It’s a rite of passage for the host committee in Orlando when the city competed for fans that live around the globe. It’s the WWE’s Super Bowl.” the 2008 edition. Soon after the event, Saboor joined WWE, replacing Bob Collins as point man for WrestleMania. Col- A GLITTERING PRIZE FOR STADIUMS lins retired that year after a 20-year run at the company. Saboor’s comparison is on point. WrestleMania has grown to “Our fans are coming earlier, staying longer and spending the scale of Super Bowl, Final Four and the College Football more money in the host cities,” Saboor said, “and we think Playo. Similar to those events, cities form local host com- that has a lot to do with the fact that we’ve given them the mittees to compete for WrestleMania. Team owners, stadium impetus to make this their annual family vacation.” managers, sports commissions and CVBs, among other civic entities, join forces with one goal in mind: to win the title belt CITIES FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT that is WrestleMania and all that it encompasses. WrestleMania has been a xture at stadiums since 2007 When MetLife Stadium competed for WrestleMania 29, at Ford Field, although it played NFL and MLB venues the local host committee deployed some heavy hitters to dating to 1987, when 93,173 packed the old Pontiac (Mich.) add juice to its presentation at World Wrestling Enter- Silverdome. Collins recalls WWE Chairman Vince McMa- tainment headquarters in Stamford, Conn. Woody John- hon calling him in 2005, the day after WrestleMania 21 at son, owner of the NFL’s New York Jets, and John Mara, Staples Center, and telling him from then on he wanted the co-owner of the league’s New York Giants, both attended, event booked exclusively at stadiums. said Brad Mayne, president and CEO of the International Seventeen cities across North America responded to the Association of Venue Managers. As a facility operator, most recent proposal issued by WWE for WrestleMania over Mayne twice hosted WrestleMania, once at MetLife Sta- a ve-year stretch from 2021 to 2015. (Raymond James Stadi- dium and another time at Arrowhead Pond (now Honda um in Tampa was recently announced as the 2020 event site). Center) in Anaheim, Calif., in 2000. WWE makes its selections after evaluating key elements such COURTESY SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS FRANCISCO SAN COURTESY “Woody Johnson and John Mara being there for the as airports, hotel rooms, transportation and the market’s past presentation speaks volumes for how important WWE and experience hosting major events, Saboor said. WrestleMania are to the communities now,” Mayne said. “The venues are the bedrock for the event,” he said. “It’s a coveted event that everybody wants.” Over the past 11 years, Camping World Stadium and the The host committees recognize the economic impact the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans have been host massive production brings to their communities. In 2017, to WrestleMania twice in their respective markets. MetLife it surpassed $180 million for WrestleMania 33 in Orlan- Stadium joins that list this year. do, according to numbers produced by Enigma Research Alan Freeman, SMG’s general manager for the Super- Corp., the consulting rm WWE uses to track local spend- dome and Smoothie King Center, recognized Wrestle- ing by attendees. This year, patrons will spend money on Mania’s potential after booking multiple WWE shows over both sides of the Hudson River, Saboor said. the years at the arena and helped bring WrestleMania 30 to “The landscape of WrestleMania week has grown town (see related story, Page 35). dramatically; it’s meant to leave more (money) in the area than we could ever take out,” he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 32 APRIL 2019 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 The host committee added a new piece to WrestleMania 34 with Champions Square, the outdoor plaza next to the Superdome that can accom- modate 9,000 people with a stage for live music. SMG and Centerplate, the dome’s food vendor, oset some of their expenses by selling food and drink at Champions Square while fans listened to local bands perform before Wres- tleMania. “We sold them on the ‘pregame activation’ and their sponsors got exposure out there,” Freeman said. “WWE’s perspective was … you’ve got the French Quarter, that’s all the ac- tivation you need. There’s some truth to that, but these fans arrive very early. We had great weather that day and they got another taste of New Orleans in Champions Square.” INCENTIVES PAY OFF For WrestleMania, every deal is dierent, stadium managers said. Because it has turned into a high-pro- le enterprise generating tens of millions of dollars in tourism spending, WWE seeks incentives and nan- cial support from the host committees with marketing assistance and expense waiv- ers, Collins said. Every stage production is unique to the market. At Seth Rollins catch- Essentially, WrestleMania is staged “rent-free,” similar to MetLife Stadium in 2013, a giant replica of the Statue of es some air during the Super Bowl, Freeman said. Last year in New Orleans, the Liberty towered over the ring, taller than the stadium WrestleMania 34 host facility covered all event-day sta²ng costs and generated walls, Mayne said. The walkway where wrestlers were last year. revenue through concessions and facility fees tied to its Tick- introduced and paraded to the ring had replicas of the Em- etmaster agreement. Bottom line, SMG was able to pay for all pire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge with a graphic of its operating expenses and make a “decent return,” he said. treatment of downtown New York City. “The return on the arena events was marginal, but the The extravagant sets prompt a big chunk of WrestleMania income made o the stadium event made the entire week ticket holders to come into the building early to see WWE’s worthwhile,” Freeman said. “It’s one of those events like a newest creation. It’s “their Super Bowl” and they’re excited Final Four or Super Bowl. You want to be able to do it on a to see how the event is going to be presented, said Paul Turn- regular basis because it has such a great economic impact er, the Dallas Cowboys’ senior director of event operations.