Report: WWE Planning to Hold WrestleMania 37 in 2021 in Tampa Bay Instead of Los Angeles
If there is one thing that has been consistent in the wrestling business and the world in general is that plans are always changing. Now that we’re in October with three months left in this strange 2020 year, it’s already time to start thinking about 2021. In WWE’s case, there have been no fans at events since early March and we really don’t know if that is going to change in 2021.
As for the biggest WWE show of the year, location of next year’s WrestleMania 37 event might be changing. Instead of WrestleMania Goes Hollywood in Los Angeles/Inglewood at the brand new SoFi Stadium (home of MY NFL Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers), the next WrestleMania is likely going to be in Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium, according to ITRWrestling’s Gary Cassidy. Raymond James Stadium is home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they are also hosting Super Bowl LV (that’s 55) on February 7, 2021.
This year’s WrestleMania 36 event was going to take place in Tampa Bay, but things changed due to COVID-19 and it forced WWE to hold most of the show at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando with no fans. It sounds like WWE is wanting to give Tampa Bay their WrestleMania as scheduled.
The original advertised date for WrestleMania in Los Angeles was March 28, 2021 and there is currently no word on whether the date will remain the same. If I had to guess, the date would remain the same because the stadium wouldn’t be used for anything around that time anyway.
The report from Cassidy was also backed up by Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports Orlando, who noted that he was waiting for WWE to respond.
I was just about to run this within the hour but wanted to give #WWE a chance to comment and was waiting for a response. Multiple sources have told me as well WrestleMania may be on the move to Tampa, about a month after the Super Bowl is held at the same venue. https://t.co/vFjnxM0iry
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) October 2, 2020
Meanwhile, Wrestlevotes on Twitter noted that the story is accurate according to their sources.
Those contractual obligations are with the state of California regarding WrestleMania…
The news of WWE looking into Tampa Bay is accurate. Very accurate. https://t.co/vqJcMcI3KI
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) October 2, 2020
It’s impossible to know what the world is going to be like in six months when it’s time for WrestleMania. Will there be fans allowed to attend the event? We really don’t know. In a normal year, WrestleMania tickets would go on sale in early November, but 2020 is anything but normal.
Please keep in mind that none of this is confirmed by WWE yet, so it’s just a report for now. If there are any comments from WWE or an official announcement, we will cover that as well.
TJR Thoughts: It makes sense to give Tampa their WrestleMania that they bid for and wanted to host. It might piss off some people in Los Angeles that wanted to host the next WrestleMania, but I think it’s sensible by WWE to want to push things back.