Report: WWE Expected to Leave Amway Center in Orlando by End of November After Survivor Series
The home venue of WWE Raw, Smackdown and pay-per-view broadcasts for the past two months has been the Amway Center in Orlando. That led to the ThunderDome setup in the arena. As we have reported in the past (rental cost info is here), WWE pays the arena a lot of money to rent it out so that they could put on their shows. The original agreement was from the end of August beginning at SummerSlam through October, but then it got extended through the end of November. The date given was November 24 (as you’ll see below), which is a Tuesday, so it’s two days after Survivor Series and one day after Raw.
In an update on the situation, Wrestlevotes on Twitter noted that WWE is looking for a new home arena for shows beginning in December.
A newer arena is preferred as the weight of the ThunderDome won’t work with older buildings. Also, a major travel hub is needed as talent will be flying in and out each week. Not the easiest combination of things to find.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) October 26, 2020
The main reason why WWE has to leave Amway Center by the end of November is because the arena is home to the NBA’s Orlando Magic. There have been reports in the past week that the NBA wants to return for a new season starting on Christmas Day (December 25), which means WWE can’t be using the arena since the NBA would likely try to play the games at the home arenas of their teams.
It was also reported by Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports 360 that WWE’s deal with Amway Center runs through November 24.
I have received the amendment to the contract between the city of Orlando and #WWE to hold the ThunderDome at Amway Center. Officially, it runs through November 24. pic.twitter.com/QRLMiCzb1k
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) October 26, 2020
It’s unknown right now where WWE might be headed. An option could be the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, but if they want to keep using the ThunderDome structure (and apparently they do) then that likely wouldn’t be an option since it’s a smaller building.
They do have some time to figure it out, but it’s a tough process in this COVID-19 where we don’t know when fans are going to be allowed in arenas again.