Report On Why WWE Chooses Certain Premium Live Event Locations

A new report has provided some insight into why WWE picks certain cities and venues to run Premium Live Events.

The Premium Live Events (formerly called pay-per-views) that WWE runs on a nearly monthly basis are done to present big matches, settle rivalries, create stars and continue the storylines that we see on television.

What’s interesting about some of the upcoming PLE events is that the company is clearly interested in running shows outside of the United States.

After WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, Backlash will take place in Puerto Rico on May 6th, then three weeks later it’s King & Queen Of The Ring in Saudi Arabia on May 27th and that’s followed by Money in the Bank on July 1st in London, England.

Those three shows are in addition to Elimination Chamber taking place in Montreal this past February in front of a raucous crowd that hadn’t seen a PLE in their city since 2009.

A report from Fightful Select has noted that WWE has been doing stadium shows and international locations to try to maximize the buzz around those PLE events. It was noted that the company wants all of the PLE events to have a distinct purpose.

It was noted that WWE goes with thematic options for PLEs like running Elimination Chamber in Montreal with a hometown guy like Sami Zayn competing in the match. At Backlash on May 6th, the very popular musician Bad Bunny will be hosting the show in his home country due to his close ties with WWE dating back to competing at WrestleMania 37 two years ago.

The Money in the Bank PLE taking place in London is a huge deal in England due to how rarely they get a live PLE event in that country. It will air in the afternoon in the US & Canada, but for the UK market, it’s taking place at a time when the rights renewals are about to be renegotiated.

A higher-up in WWE told Fightful that “it’s about spacing out PLEs so the demand builds in market.” Oftentimes, WWE uses press releases to share information about the market they are in.