Economic impact of WWE events in Indy estimated at $350 million

Professional wrestling is officially returning to Indianapolis and is ready to put on big shows.

World Wrestling Entertainment and Indiana Sports Corp. confirmed Monday that they have reached an agreement to bring WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam to the city over the next eight years.

IBJ first reported the deal on Fridayand at that point, no deal had been finalized.

The parties have since agreed to key terms of the deal, the first WWE has ever reached with a local sports commission in the United States.

The deal will include WrestleMania, which has only been held once in Indianapolis in 1992, and SummerSlam, which the city last hosted in 2008. The city will also host Royal Rumble for the first time on February 1 2025. All three shows will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium and are collectively expected to generate at least $350 million in local spending.

“We are excited to bring this groundbreaking partnership to Indianapolis and our state,” Patrick Talty, president of Indiana Sports Corp, said in a written speech. For more than four decades, our city's sports strategy has attracted millions of visitors and invaluable hours of brand-building international media coverage. This partnership with WWE continues to advance this strategy in new and exciting ways. We look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our community and state and showing them everything Indy has to offer.”

The partnership will also include multiple WWE events per year for the city, including a mix of Smackdown, Monday Night Raw, pay-per-view events and non-televised house shows hosted at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The deal will also create more events in other Indiana markets like Fort Wayne and Evansville, the latter of which hosts Monday Night Raw on Sept. 30 under a separate deal.

The financial terms of the agreement between Indiana Sports Corp. and WWE were not disclosed, although Talty confirmed the organization used a portion of the state's tourism tender fund to secure the commitment.

The agreement between the two organizations is among the most comprehensive ever reached by the professional wrestling mainstay. In 2018, the company signed a long-term agreement with Saudi Arabia to host events in the country until 2028; this agreement could be renewed in the years to come to include flagship productions like Royal Rumble or WrestleMania.

Indianapolis is a fantastic city for major events and we are excited to invite the WWE Universe to Lucas Oil Stadium for the Royal Rumble in 2025, as well as a future SummerSlam and WrestleMania, said Chris Legentil, Vice President WWE executive of talent relations and communications. Patrick [Talty] and the Indiana Sports Corp team have done a phenomenal job strengthening the local economy and tourism, and were proud to partner with them to shine a spotlight on the great state of Indiana.

The announcement came as WWE prepared to hold its Raw event Monday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Indianapolis has hosted several WWE live events dating back to the early 1990s, most recently the Fastlane 2023 premium live event at Gainbridge Fieldhouse which attracted a crowd of more than 14,500 and featured Pat McAfee teasing the crowd telling him that Indianapolis deserved a WrestleMania. This deal was already well underway at the time of this broadcast.

WrestleMania, WWE's two-day flagship event, will likely provide a major tourism boost to central Indiana.

The 1992 show in Indianapolis, a one-day show featuring headliners Sid Justice, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Randy Savage, drew 62,167 people to the Hoosier Dome. WrestleMania became a two-day event starting in 2020.

According to SportsTravel Magazine, an industry trade publication, WrestleMania alone pumps about $200 million a year into its host city's economy and draws crowds of 120,000 to 150,000 people, a mix of local traffic and visitors . The economic impact figure includes the event itself as well as many ancillary wrestling shows that often take place throughout the city in connection with, but independent of, the WWE event.

WrestleMania, which typically takes place in early to mid-April, has been held outside the Midwest for more than 15 years, with the last such event in the region taking place in Detroit in 2007. The 2025 shows will be held in Las Vegas, with expectations of attracting up to 180,000 visitors.

But hosting the event is also an expensive undertaking, with some economists putting the price tag for host cities at around $20 million, with most of the cost tied to increased security and traffic checks, discounts on rentals of stadiums and other spaces, and taxes or financial incentives were offered to entice WWE to select the city as a host.

Talty said discussions are still ongoing about who will bear the costs of the event, including what role Indiana Sports Corp. will play. and other organizations could play a role in fundraising efforts.

By Mickey Shuey, Indianapolis Business Journal