WWE has already announced that next year’s Royal Rumble PLE will take place on January 27 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
No matches have been announced as the show is still several months away, but it’s one of the biggest events of the year for the company as it kicks off WrestleMania season and begins the build to the show.
Cities have bid on some of WWE’s larger events in recent years, much like they do for WrestleMania. They’ve done it with SummerSlam, Money in the Bank, and Royal Rumble in the past.
During an interview with the Catalyst, Jason Latimer, public relations director for Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, revealed that the city spent $500,000 of its tourist development tax funding to secure the event.
The event’s economic impact is unknown, but over 40,000 fans are expected to attend.
“The exposure and marketing benefits, and the visitation we’re going to get from this, are astronomical,” said Brian Lowack, CEO of VSPC. “We can take those monies that we collect from those visitors in their overnight stays and reinvest them in capital projects here, which will increase visitation.”
They intend to hold numerous activities in the week leading up to and during the event.
