A new article is up courtesy of The Miami Herald that talks about the relationship between the city and WWE plus what had to be done to get WrestleMania 28 to take place there.
City officials promised WWE a $250,000 subsidy, along with other perks, and access to Miami-Dade county's three largest venues - Sun Life Stadium, the Miami Beach Convention Center and the American Airlines Arena.
Miami will do what the other cities that have hosted WrestleMania in the past by hanging WrestleMania banners from light posts along the highways and around 200 volunteers from the city will be recruited to help man the many WWE events during the week.
Said Mike Sophia, head of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission: "This event is as big as it gets. WrestleMania is up there in the league with Super Bowls and Final Fours. To be honest with you, when I got the [WrestleMania] bid book, I looked at it and I put it on the corner of my desk and I said, 'Nah, this isn’t us'" Sophia said. He then realized that WWE's WrestleMania "looks exactly like a Super Bowl. It's exactly something we could and should do. If you want to sit down and split hairs as to whether it strictly fits the definition of a sporting event, I’m not going to have a great argument."
To read the full interview, look below.
WrestleMania used to pick a city for its annual televised smack down. Now it prefers to be wooed. Miami beat out other cities for next year’s event and expects to reap tens of millions of dollars in tourism money.
Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/25/2471834_p2/miami-fought-for-wrestlemania.html#ixzz1bum6v1yJ
By DOUGLAS HANKS
In his five years recruiting athletic tournaments to Miami-Dade County, Mike Sophia had never boarded a jet to make his pitch in person. But for WrestleMania, Sophia bought a plane ticket.
“This event is as big as it gets,’’ said Sophia, head of the tax-funded Miami-Dade Sports Commission and part of the county delegation who traveled to World Wrestling Entertainment’s Conneticut headquarters to bid on the annual event. “WrestleMania is up there in the league with Super Bowls and Final Fours.”
Such comparisons capture the high expectations as professonal wrestling’s most popular event prepares for its South Florida debut.
A sold-out crowd at Sun Life Stadium is expected for WrestleMania XXVIII on Sunday, April 1, 2012, when University of Miami alum Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be the star wrestler. Organizers predict an economic windfall easily topping $60 million, with tens of thousands of families planning vacations around the event.
The numbers may be hard to prove, but there’s no denying the championship-level treatment for an event that is much more stagecraft than sports. It’s a status WWE began cultivating three years ago, when executives decided to invite cities bid on WrestleMania in the same way they compete for the Super Bowl.
“They’re tough. They wanted to know every detail of what we proposed,’’ said County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, who flew to Stamford, Conn., for the headquarters pitch and met WWE CEO Vince McMahon . “Wherever they go, they want to make sure they have a quality product.”
The contest for WrestleMania — Miami lost out to Atlanta for WrestleMania XXVII — captures the financial calculus behind the rowdy plot lines and frequent betrayals showcased throughout the year on WWE’s twice-weekly shows.
WrestleMania debuted in Madison Square Garden in 1985 with a tag-team match between Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. It now stands as the most lucrative day on WWE’s calendar, bringing in a $17 million profit this year, about 40 percent of the company’s gross earnings for the first half of 2011, according to regulatory filings.
For more than two decades, wrestling executives sought out venues across the country and booked WrestleMania the way concert promoters do. Then, in 2008, WWE decided to make venues come to them, and pick the location that offered the best package.
“One of the weighted factors is: Which community will best embrace the vision for the continued growth of WrestleMania Week?” said John Saboor, the former head of the Central Florida sports commission hired away by WWE in 2008 to run WrestleMania’s bid process and other special events. “Cities now approach this like they approach the nation’s other great sporting events.”
There is one glaring difference, which WWE mostly acknowledges. WrestleMania only involves pretend sports. WWE describes its wrestlers as “performers” and “superstars” who follow plots and scripts crafted by WWE writers.
The winners and losers for WrestleMania?
“That is all decided in advance,’’ said WWE spokesman Adam Hopkins, who described the company as providing “scripted” entertainment. “While our superstars are performers, they are also highly trained athletes. There is an element of sports to it.”
For communities eager to fill hotel rooms, the sports question doesn’t matter. To land WrestleMania, Miami-Dade promised a $250,000 subsidy along with the access to the county’s three biggest venues.
On the day of the event, WWE will hold a fan convention at the Miami Beach Convention and two events at the AmericanAirlines Arena, including a live broadcast the day after WrestleMania. Company executives say the multiple events convince fans to arrive early and stay late.
This week, the company issued a study saying WrestleMania brought $62 million to the Atlanta economy, almost entirely thanks to out-of-town wrestling fans booking hotel rooms and eating at restaurants. About half stayed at least three nights, with about a third staying four or more.
“It’s a really big piece of business. That’s from a non-believer. I was converted,’’ said Paul Breslin, an Atlanta hotel consultant who was not involved in bringing WrestleMania to that city for the April 3 event.
Packing Sun Life Stadium with out-of-state fans for the February 2010 Super Bowl sent revenue soaring 21 percent for the average Miami-Dade hotel room. But Atlanta didn’t see much of a windfall during WrestleMania month: The average room’s revenue grew just 6.2 percent, slightly better than the year’s average. .
Scott Smith, a lodging analyst with PKF Consulting in Atlanta, said WrestleMania doesn’t bring the flood of corporate spending and lavish parties that a major sporting event like Super Bowl does.
“I don’t think [WrestleMania fans] are going to high-end establishments on the company credit card,’’ Smith said. “It’s not anywhere near what a Super Bowl is going to do.’’
Organizers claim Atlanta’s WrestleMania generated about 47,000 overnight hotel stays, which would put it on par with February’s Miami International Boat show or April’s Sony Ericsson tennis tournament, according to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In Miami, there will be an art exhibit featuring paintings and other creations by the wrestlers. The WWE hall-of-fame presentation takes place Saturday at the AA Arena. Banners celebrating WrestleMania will hang from light posts along Miami-Dade highways, and Sophia said he plans to recruit about 200 volunteers to help man some of the WWE events.
“To be honest with you, when I got the [WrestleMania] bid book, I looked at it and I put it on the corner of my desk and I said, ‘Nah, this isn’t us,’ ’’ Sophia recalled. Then he realized WrestleMania “looks exactly like a Super Bowl. It’s exactly something we could and should do.”
“If you want to sit down and split hairs as to whether it strictly fits the definition of a sporting event,’’ he continued, “I’m not going to have a great argument.”
Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/25/2471834_p2/miami-fought-for-wrestlemania.html#ixzz1bum92Ayz
