Major Wrestling Event Coming To Santa Clara In 2015
(CBS SF/AP) - The country's largest professional wrestling event is coming to Santa Clara in 2015, along with thousands of wrestling fans from around the world, according to multiple reports.
Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews and the San Francisco 49ers are set to hold a news conference on Tuesday morning to announce a major event at Levi's Stadium in the Spring of 2015.
Reports in the wrestling industry and sports press have identified the event as WrestleMania 31, the flagship event of WWE, the country's largest professional wrestling promotion.
The annual event draws tens of thousands of fans from all over the United States and from many other countries including the United Kingdom and Canada, according to Dave Meltzer, editor of Wrestling Observer. In addition to the main WrestleMania show, which could draw more than 60,000 people, the week's events will include a Hall of Fame ceremony and other affiliated shows and events such as autograph signings and concerts. In addition to the WWE, smaller wrestling promoters will hold shows in the area in the days leading up to WrestleMania, Meltzer said. "It's like the biggest week of the year for wrestling," Meltzer said. "It's like the Super Bowl for wrestling."
Santa Clara and 49ers officials made a bid for the event this summer, in competition against Philadelphia officials. Meltzer said he suspected one factor that tipped the decision in Santa Clara's favor is the city's successful bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, which adds an element of prestige to the location. According to WWE, WrestleMania has generated more than $100 million for its host communities for the past two years in a row.
A crowd of more than 80,000 attended the 2013 event at MetLife stadium in New Jersey in April, generating $101.2 million in direct, indirect and induced impact from spending by non-locals, according to a report by the Enigma Research Corporation, WWE officials said in a statement in November.
The 2012 event in Miami drew 78,363 fans and generated $102.7 million in spending by non-locals, WWE officials said. More than 70 percent of the fans attending the Miami event were from outside the area and stayed an average of four nights.
WrestleMania 30 in 2014 is set to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana in April.
Calls to the San Francisco 49ers and WWE have not been returned.
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