This article was also published for Wrestlenomics subscribers. Signup now on Patreon or Substack to unlock access to paywalled and ad-free reporting and analysis on the business of pro wrestling.
Despite an announcement earlier this year, WrestleMania will not take place in New Orleans in 2026, according to a statement provided Thursday to Wrestlenomics.
The statement provided by the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation indicates the event is being rescheduled to a later, unspecified year. New Orleans was announced as the 2026 host city in February, during a segment on Smackdown featuring “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson revealing the location.
After this article was published, NOLA.com reported that Las Vegas would be host site of WrestleMania in 2026. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported discussions are underway for WrestleMania to take place in WWE President Nick Khan’s hometown for the second consecutive year.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which played a key role in bringing the 2025 event to the city, declined to comment in response to our inquiry about whether Las Vegas would be the location of next year’s WrestleMania.
Rather than WrestleMania, WWE’s Money in the Bank premium live event will be held in New Orleans in 2026. That news follows the recently announced UFC 318 card set for July 19, 2025, at the Smoothie King Center in the city. The events are part of a broader “multi-event, multi-year agreement” being negotiated between local organizers and WWE and UFC’s parent company TKO Group Holdings.
On Friday, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque announced that Money in the Bank 2026 would take place that year on August 29. In recent years the annual event has taken place in June or July.
“The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and New Orleans & Company are working closely with our friends at TKO to expand our long-standing partnership,” the statement from the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation reads, “which will include UFC 318 on July 19, 2025, Money In The Bank in 2026, and WrestleMania – which will move from the currently scheduled 2026 timeframe to a future year.”
New Orleans & Company, which is mentioned in the statement, is a marketing organization that promotes the New Orleans tourism industry.
The foundation described the statement as a joint message from both their organization and WWE. WWE didn’t respond to our requests to confirm their agreement with the statement or provide additional comment, but later on Friday the company acknowledged the announcement and joint statement in Levesque’s video message.
The reasons for the apparent change in plans for next year’s WrestleMania location are unclear.
A key growth strategy for TKO is the pursuit of site fees and other incentives the company can attract in exchange for the economic impact its events provide to local businesses. Las Vegas hosted WrestleMania this year, with the local Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority providing WWE with a $5 million site fee. WWE also qualified for an additional $4.2 million in tax credits under a program offered by the Nevada state government.
WWE is set to receive a $7.1 million from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority for the first ever two-day Summerslam this year at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on August 2 and 3.
WrestleMania had been scheduled to take place next year on April 11 and 12 at the Superdome, which previously hosted WWE’s biggest event of the year in 2014 and 2018.
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.