WWE surprised a lot of fans when they announced that they’ll be returning to Puerto Rico after 18 years for the upcoming Backlash premium live event. It seems that the decision has more to it than meets the eye.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, the company has been putting extra care into the selection of premium live event locations lately.
WWE has a concentrated effort for their PLE events.
WWE has been going to Stadiums and international territories, in addition to places like Puerto Rico that they haven’t been in 18 years. Fightful Select spoke with WWE sources who confirmed that the effort was made to maximize the buzz around said shows.
WWE has been putting extra care into the selection of PLE locations, and drastically changed its approach from 2022. They want each event to have a distinct purpose, whether that be thematic, financial, or strategic. For example, thematic would be Sami Zayn in Montreal for Elimination Chamber, or Bad Bunny hosing Backlash in Puerto Rico. Financial would be stadiums vs. arenas. Strategic would be London’s event happening in prime time ahead of their rights renewals in the area, and also WrestleMania in Los Angeles around the time they’re planning a sale of the company, and ahead of the TV rights renewals.
“It’s about spacing out PLEs so the demand builds in market,” said the higher up, noting on press releases they’ll often point out it’s their first time heading to a market for a PLE in quite some time, when applicable.
Fightful Select
WWE removed a lot of premium live events from their calendar after WrestleMania 34 as a means to reduce expenses and improve profitability. The company repurposed some of their old events for NXT, as the company recently filed to trademark one of their old shows.
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