Public records obtained by Wrestlenomics confirm an earlier report by Las Vegas media outlet 8NewsNow that WWE is getting a $5 million grant as part of a set of incentives from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) in exchange for bringing Wrestlemania to the city in 2025.
The deal came together in less than two months before it was officially announced on May 4, despite reports that Minneapolis was the frontrunner for next year’s Wrestlemania.
In addition to the $5 million cash grant, emails obtained in response to our request indicate WWE will get rent-free use of the LVCVA’s Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall, presumably where The World (formerly Axxess) will take place. WWE will also benefit from a branding awareness campaign provided by the LVCVA.
Because LVCVA is a governmental body, it’s subject to respond to public records requests. Redactions made by the LVCVA obscured some information to us, including estimates of the benefits to the local economy.
We also learned that the LVCVA paid WWE a $300,000 site fee for Summerslam 2021, plus an additional $30,000 in marketing value. Those details were unexpectedly included in the response to our records request.
We understand there’s a well-connected community among professionals at organizations that attract major events to local areas. Executive Director of the Detroit Sports Commission, David Beachnau was hosting Summerslam in 2023 and doing due diligence ahead of the event. He contacted Lisa Motley, the LVCVA Senior Director of Sports and Special Events, in June 2023, two months before Summerslam in Detroit, to ask about Motley’s experience with WWE.
“[D]id you guys commit to/do much welcome/branding when you hosted?” Beachnau wrote to Motley about two months before Summerslam in Detroit. “They’re [WWE] trying to squeeze some stuff out of us and wasn’t sure if they used the same tactic with you guys.”
I can recall, being in Detroit to cover Summerslam, there did end up being plenty of WWE branding throughout the downtown area, including on streetlights, public transit, buildings, and even the sidewalk.
Beachnau noted to Motley that the new WWE staff he was negotiating with were more difficult than former long-time WWE live events executive, John Saboor.
By summer 2023, WWE was about to complete its merger with UFC into TKO. WWE executives had already publicly discussed their pursuit of site fees for major events as a key strategy for revenue growth, possibly leading to a more aggressive approach than Beachnau was expecting.
“With Saboor gone (along with a handful of new folks), they’re becoming a bit of a challenge for us,” Beachnau added in his message to Motley.
Motley, who records indicate was central to landing Wrestlemania for Las Vegas, replied to Beachnau on the same day in June 2023, disclosing that the LVCVA paid a $300,000 hosting fee, plus $30,000 in “market brand awareness” for Summerslam in 2021.
“Summerslam was an incredible event for us,” Beachnau told Wrestlenomics, speaking with us on Wednesday.
Summerslam last year in Detroit drew a $8.5 million gate, according to WWE, and visitors from all U.S. 50 states and 20 countries.
“We’re eager to work with WWE again in the future,” Beachnau added.
Motley told colleagues by email on February 7 of this year that the LVCVA “was not in any conversations about WrestleMania,” when a reporter contacted the organization to ask.
Curiosity over whether Las Vegas would host a Wrestlemania in a year in the near future was natural as the Wrestlemania “Kickoff” press conference was scheduled to happen the next day at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.
It seems to have been true that there were no serious discussions yet. But then, email records show that Motley, the day before the Kickoff show, set up a meeting with TKO live events executive Peter Dropick for March 4, which is perhaps where earnest discussions about Wrestlemania in Las Vegas began.
Meanwhile in St. Paul, Wendy Blackshaw, President of Minnesota Sports & Events, hinted at her commission bringing a major event soon coming to her area.
On March 6, Blackshaw told the Minnesota House of Representatives about an event that she was almost ready to announce.
“I hope that we had been able to announce it today, but we can’t quite yet,” she told the state legislators. “But we will be sharing that news in the next few weeks. This event will provide an economic impact second only to the Super Bowl.”
Prevailing wisdom suggested Blackshaw was talking about next year’s Wrestlemania, which would happen at the Viking’s home, U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Local media in Minnesota was excited by the idea, including the StarTribune on Mar. 13, which called Minneapolis a “finalist” for Wrestlemania in 2025.
Back in Las Vegas, a link to the StarTribune article, which had been published the previous day, was passed to Motley by a local advertising executive. Motley’s response suggests she was already confident she would finalize a deal to win Wrestlemania.
“Yikes!” she replied. Motley noted that a UFC executive told her that Minneapolis hadn’t yet been informed they “were no longer in contention” for Wrestlemania. “They [WWE/TKO] should probably do that soon,” Motley wrote back to the ad executive from R&R Partners.
An employee from another ad agency, Grey, also contacted LVCVA staff on Mar. 14. Like most of the public, she was seemingly unaware that the wheels were already moving on a deal. She urged the LVCVA to pursue Wrestlemania.
“We’re seeing an increase of people mentioning us [Las Vegas] and tagging us hoping that we’d submit a bid for WrestleMania 41, especially after we hosted WrestleMania XL Kickoff,” the Grey employee wrote to LVCVA staff. “[P]eople are still holding on [to] hope that Vegas will be the host and debates on if it should be in MN or LV have fans creating fan posters already bidding themselves for the destination they hope for most.”
The representative from Grey pushed Las Vegas to engage in a deal while there was still time before a host city might be announced at the upcoming Wrestlemania in Philadelphia.
Motley and another LVCVA executive, COO Brian Yost, traveled to Philadelphia to attend this year’s Wrestlemania in person and meet with WWE staff.
As their travel plans were being made, Las Vegas native and WWE President Nick Khan wrote a note to Motley and Yost, praising them.
“I am so proud of the great work you have both done where Las Vegas is finally recognized as the destination spot for massive sporting events. THANK YOU.”
“See you in Philly,” Khan added and directed a WWE staff member to ensure Motley and Yost got “extra VIP” treatment.
We also obtained a pitch deck used to sell Las Vegas on Wrestlemania, around the time of the Philadelphia event. The slides pushed, among other things, the benefit Wrestlemania would have on the local economy.
One of the slides reads: “WWE and Las Vegas form a powerful and profitable partnership that combines WWE’s global popularity and worldwide audience with local attractions and infrastructure to create an entertainment destination.”
Select slides from a pitch deck that was part of WWE’s negotiations with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Following WWE’s announcement on May 4 that Wrestlemania is coming to Las Vegas next year on Apr. 19 and Apr. 20, 2025, Blackshaw gave comments to the StarTribune.
“We were informed by WWE that Minnesota would not host WrestleMania in 2025 due to a change in direction by new ownership,” the Minnesota Sports and Events President said. “Although disappointed, we are in discussions with WWE about future events in Minnesota. We are optimistic that Minnesota will host WWE events here in the future.”
Those discussions came to fruition a few weeks later, when on May 23, WWE announced a two-night Summerslam at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2026.
Emails showing how the benefits of next year’s Wrestlemania to the Las Vegas economy were ultimately estimated, were redacted by the LVCVA. The organization indicated that certain information was redacted to protect trade secrets and information about deliberative process privilege, citing exceptions provided in Nevada’s public records law. Many attachments to emails were also excluded from our request response. We’ve sent the LVCVA an appeal letter that includes a request for a detailed explanation for each redaction or that the redacted information be disclosed.
We contacted representatives from LVCVA and WWE for comments for this report, but have yet to hear back from those organizations.
WWE has worked to suppress information disclosing details of site fees for major events, which is a key growth area for TKO. WWE went so far as to sue the Texas Attorney General last February to prevent Wrestlenomics from receiving information related to the Royal Rumble in 2023 in San Antonio, a case that’s still ongoing in Travis County’s 345th District Court.
The Texas AG Open Records Division ruled on Thursday that the Office of the Governor in Texas must release certain information to us related to the San Antonio Rumble. We’re waiting for the governor’s office to comply.
It’s unclear exactly which WWE events have benefited from site fees and which have not. For Wrestlemania in 2016 in Arlington, WWE benefited about $3.2 million in incentives, according to public records. Royal Rumble 2020 in Houston had a fee of $323,000, as reported by Sports Business Journal. The two-night Wrestlemania in 2022 in Arlington had a fee of $5.2 million, also according to SBJ, although documents on the governor’s website indicate the event qualified for about $8.9 million in incentives. A press release from the government in Cardiff implied Clash at the Castle 2022 had a fee of $2.8 million. The fee and incentives for Backlash 2023 in Puerto Rico totaled $1.8 million. Royal Rumble 2024 in Tampa-St. Petersburg had a fee of $500,000, according to a local media report.
TKO President Mark Shapiro said at a conference last year that the WWE and UFC parent made a $16 million deal for a “combination of events” in Australia, an agreement that probably included Elimination Chamber in Perth last February.
The Indiana Sports Corporation’s recently announced deal for multiple WWE events over a number of years, including Royal Rumble in 2025 and a future Wrestlemania, likely includes site fees or other incentives. The Indiana Business Journal reported the Indian Sports Corp. would use money from its $5 million tourism fund to complete the deal.
A stock analysis report this month from Morgan Stanley stated: “UFC and WWE together are expected to generate ~$200m total in site fee revenue this year.” That’s a significant portion of the nearly $2.7 billion in total revenue the firm estimates TKO will generate for 2024. Morgan Stanley projects annual site fees for TKO could reach $300 million over the next four to five years.
WWE also frequently qualifies for tax credits in states including Ohio, Connecticut, and other states.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.