WWE’s long-term plans for its flagship event, WrestleMania, are undergoing a significant strategic shift, with Las Vegas now slated to become a “frequent” host city. This development comes as WrestleMania 42, originally scheduled for New Orleans in 2026, has been moved, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer.
The decision to favor Las Vegas more regularly stems from key business and logistical considerations for WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings. Meltzer reports, “The decision was made partially because this year’s WrestleMania made so much money overall in Las Vegas from all sources that they could not make that level of money in New Orleans. The other is that the company loved having it in Las Vegas, because key TKO executives live there and are there and Nick Khan grew up there.”
The strategy for Las Vegas hosting WrestleMania is described as, “The plan is now to run WrestleMania on a regular basis in the city, not necessarily every year, but frequently.” The Observer notes, “The idea is that the city wants to have a major destination sports event every year, and by definition they are looking at the Super Bowl, The Final Four, the College Football national championship final and WrestleMania so would be looking for Mania any year that they don’t have one of the other three events.”
Regarding New Orleans, talks with city officials reportedly took place in the days leading up to the final decision to move the 2026 event. While WrestleMania 42 is being rescheduled for New Orleans in a future, unspecified year, the city has secured other TKO events. “Nola.com said that Walt Leger, the head of New Orleans & company, which was bringing the event in, said WWE had talked about bringing a future WrestleMania to the city. They also agreed to have the 2026 Money in the Bank show there.”
Leger further commented on the ongoing relationship, stating, “We’ve worked with them for the last several days to try and identify some future dates and future events to bring to the city.”
New Orleans officials did not comment on WWE’s specific reasons for moving the 2026 WrestleMania. However, Leger pointed to organizational changes within TKO since the original deal was made. “Leger did tell Nola.com that there had been a lot of corporate shakeups since the deal was originally put together and that the people formerly in charge of making WrestleMania decisions were replaced by a newly-created TKO Live Event Strategy team headed by Peter Dropick, a longtime UFC executive who is based in Las Vegas.”
The discussions have resulted in an expanded partnership. The Observer adds, “They also reported that they are working with TKO to expand their long-standing partnership through a multi-event, multi-year agreement which will include UFC 318 (already announced for 7/19 at the Smoothie King Center) and the 2026 Money in the Bank show. They also said the agreement would include a future WrestleMania.”
