WrestleMania Sets Off Bidding Frenzy

WrestleMania won't eclipse the Olympics or the Super Bowl anytime soon, but World Wrestling Entertainment's annual showcase of its top stars is creating a bidding frenzy among cities who want to host the event.

Fourteen cities are now competing to land WrestleMania through 2014. The reason: Previous hosts Orlando and Houston each enjoyed a $50 million boost to their economies from wrestling fans opening their wallets to book hotel rooms, eat in restaurants, shop and buy tickets to area attractions like theme parks and museums.

On Sunday, 72,219 fans flocked to Phoenix to gather ringside at WrestleMania 26 inside the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Roughly 1 million more viewed it via pay-per-view. Atlanta will host next year's show and a week's worth of other WWE-backed events. Phoenix and Atlanta hadn't hosted Mania before.

Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, Toronto, Tampa, Vancouver, New Orleans, St. Louis, Jacksonville are now in the running to lock down WrestleMania 28 and beyond. Orlando and Houston are also hoping to host again.

Other interested cities, like Dallas, had to pull out of bidding the next two years because they were hosting events like the Final Four NCAA championships, but are eying other Manias. Houston and Orlando are also bidding to host again...More?

source: variety.com