‘Our Super Bowl’: WrestleMania in Las Vegas seeing huge demand from fans
Updated January 17, 2025 - 12:26 pm
The WWE will take over Las Vegas for the better part of a week in April with its biggest event of the year, WrestleMania 41.
The two-day mega event, being held April 19 and 20 at Allegiant Stadium, is just part of the weekend, as WWE’s Friday Night Smackdown will be held April 18 and Monday Night Raw on April 21, both at T-Mobile Arena.
WWE World, the company’s fan fest in partnership with Fanatics, also will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center between April 17 and April 21, according to Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“It is four days of sold-out events and all the buildup to it,” Hill said Thursday at Vegas Chamber’s Preview Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
When the first WWE World took place during last year’s WrestleMania weekend, more than 40,000 fans attended. Although the week features multiple events, it is all centered on WrestleMania.
“It’s our Super Bowl,” WWE president Nick Khan said Thursday. “For our Super Bowl, we thought there would be no better place to have it than Las Vegas.”
The WWE and its stars also will engage the community with various events throughout that week.
“We want to give back,” Khan said. “We want to leave a city that we go to better than we found it. Again, Vegas, a top-tier city, tough to leave it better than you found it. But if we can leave it in an emotional way for folks who like the outreach of WWE, we want to do everything we can to make sure our presence is felt.”
Initial tickets sales for WrestleMania have outpaced what the WWE has seen in the past, showing that the Las Vegas element takes an already massive event to another level.
“We sold more tickets in the first 72 hours for this event, in terms of ticket revenue, than in the history of WWE for any event,” Khan said. “They went on sale three months ago. So, people are excited about it, we have three months left to go.”
The event will air in the U.S. on NBC’s streaming service Peacock and on Netflix in the rest of the world, Khan said.
Although it isn’t likely to reach the stature of last year’s Super Bowl, which produced a $1 billion economic impact, or the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, it will be one of the largest events in the city this year, according to Jeremy Aguero, principal at Applied Analysis.
“I think WrestleMania will be one of the most significant events that we have in 2025, it’s huge win for our community,” Aguero told the Review-Journal on Thursday. “If we compare it to an average event, I think it’s going to be much larger.”
Because Aguero and Applied Analysis doesn’t yet have full ticketing information for the weekend, the economic projection for the weekend of wrestling was not yet available.
Khan, who was born in Las Vegas and attended Bonanza High School and UNLV, served as an usher for WrestleMania IX, when it was held at Caesars Palace in 1993. Returning to town as a key player with the WWE marks a full-circle moment for him.
The WWE operates as if they are an underdog, always looking to prove itself, Khan said. So, the mash-up of the WWE and Las Vegas makes all the sense in the world.
“This is a town for underdogs,” Khan said. “That means this is a town for fighters. People who have a dream can come here and realize their dreams. So, I like that marriage in many, many ways. If you work hard in Las Vegas and if you get a little bit of luck, your dreams can actually come to fruition.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.