TAMPA, Fla. — The Super Bowl of wrestling is officially coming to Tampa in spring 2020.
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa will host WWE's WrestleMania 36 on April 5, 2020. WWE confirmed the news on Twitter.
“This is really, really special for me,” Hulk Hogan said at a news conference. “This is my hometown and this is where I fell in love with wrestling.”
Hogan, who is a Clearwater resident, spoke Thursday along with Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan; WWE Vice President of Special Events John Saboor; WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon; WWE star Titus O'Neil; Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn; WWE Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul Levesque aka Triple HHH; Tampa Bay Sports Commission Executive Director Rob Higgins and WWE star Roman Reigns.
“When you’re inside this stadium next year, when you guys see the energy, when you feel the energy when you see all the pyros and the laser lights and the matches and stuff, there’s going to be an energy and level,” Hogan said. “I just started thinking about a personal level of how wrestling affected me and how I fell in love with wrestling. Everybody here is going to get to experience that. A new generation of young wrestling fans are going to get to experience that, and it’s just amazing. I can’t wait for this event to be here.”
Buckhorn, who leaves his mayoral office in April due to term limits, said he couldn't be happier Tampa is hosting WrestleMania 36.
“They gave me a belt backstage," Buckhorn said. "I’m going to wear it home tonight. I’ll tell you how it goes on Monday.”
Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada said the economic impact is on par with hosting a Superbowl. Business Insider reports that the Super Bowl brings in between $30 million - $130 million to its host city.
“It’ll bring in approximately 100 million dollars to Tampa and 50,000 hotel rooms are expected to be rented. There will also be exposure to 80 countries and online streaming which will bring incredible exposure for Raymond James Stadium in Tampa over and over and over,” Corrada said.
WWE regularly holds events in Tampa, usually at Amalie Arena. However, Tampa has never hosted WrestleMania specifically.
“We will do everything we can to make this the best WrestleMania ever,” Hagan said.
Other cities in Florida have hosted WrestleMania: Orlando had it in 2008 and 2017, while Miami Gardens held the event in 2012.
“When it comes to WrestleMania, it’s hard to put into words how big of an event it is,” Levesque said.
Levesque said the event would bring people from all 50 states and more than 60 countries.
Raymond James Stadium will host the actual Super Bowl again in 2021.
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