There had been strong rumors earlier this year that the new Vikings stadium could be a future host of WWE wrestling’s showpiece event – “WrestleMania.”
Well, a video posted by the Vikings on Monday suggests that it is going to happen, based on comments made by executive VP of public affairs and stadium development Lester Bagley.
“This is a building, if we can get it done, that is going to deliver world class events,” he said in the video about the construction progress at the $1 billion US Bank Stadium, before describing a telling list.
“Before the building is even open we have already secured the Super Bowl in 2018, the NCAA basketball Final Four in 2019, we are a finalist and seem to be in a pretty good position to secure the college football playoffs, the BCS championship game, you know we’ve got WrestleMania coming.”
The Vikings later clarified Bagley’s comments, telling BringMeTheNews the following:
Lester meant to say we are hopeful the new stadium will host a future College Football Playoff Championship and WrestleMania. Unfortunately the mistake was not caught during the editing process.
To be clear, Minnesota has not been awarded a future WrestleMania. Minneapolis has submitted a bid and hopes to hear something from WWE by the end of the year. Obviously all U.S. Bank Stadium partners would love to bring the excitement and economic impact of WrestleMania to this market.
And the WWE followed soon after, with a spokesperson saying: “Minneapolis is one of the many cities that has expressed an interest in hosting a future WrestleMania. Beyond WrestleMania in Dallas, TX on April 3, 2016, locations for future WrestleManias have not been announced. “
Mpls. ‘in the running’ for WrestleMania 2017
Nothing official has been announced regarding WrestleMania in Minneapolis. But with the stadium not due to open until the 2016-17 season, the earliest Minnesota could play host is in March/April 2017 – when the 33rd WrestleMania will be held.
Wow, VP of the Vikings casually mentions that an upcoming WrestleMania is coming to Minneapolis (skip to about 3:15): http://t.co/g82fap2Ra2
— Jason Solomon ⚡️ (@solomonster) August 19, 2015
Next year’s WrestleMania will be held in Dallas, and the WWE traditionally announces the following year’s host a couple of months before the pay-per-view event, so an announcement on 2017’s venue isn’t likely to be made until at least January.
Rumors that the stadium would land another huge event started this past January when the Vikings and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority hired Patrick Talty as the new General Manager for the stadium.
Talty’s previous position had been with the WWE, where he was the senior vice president of live events.
The Daily Norseman reported in May that Vikings Stadium was “very much in the running” to be the host of WrestleMania 33.
BringMeTheNews has reached out to the WWE for comment.
