WWE President Nick Khan detailed the company’s evolving strategy for scheduling its Premium Live Events (PLEs) during his appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, highlighting a deliberate move towards utilizing major US holiday weekends.
He noted a recent shift away from clashing with certain major sporting events, such as the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament, which historically overlapped with WrestleMania weekend. “This is also our first one, at least in the last five years, that’s not on the final four weekend,” Khan remarked, indicating a conscious effort to find optimal dates.
Khan explained the appeal of targeting weekends like the Fourth of July and Labor Day. “We’re trying to figure out weekends that would be advantages for you guys. We’ve done the American only holiday weekends,” he said. “If you think about it, Fourth of July. There’s such a lack of sports on, that people, and it’s with no disrespect intended, will actually watch the Nathan Hot Dog Eating Contest, but why wouldn’t we do a WWE event on that weekend? So we do.”
He applied similar logic to Labor Day weekend, despite some college football competition: “and Labor Day weekend, even though there’s early college football, why wouldn’t we have a big [event]?”
Khan also addressed potential concerns about live attendance on holidays, pointing to the global nature of WWE’s audience and modern viewing habits. “If people like, oh, well, you can’t get butts in seats? Well, sure you can internationally. It’s obviously not a holiday there,” he reasoned. “And now that everyone can watch on their phone, it doesn’t really matter what day it is, as long as it’s not a cluttered sports calendar.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Bill Simmons Podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
