Backstage Update On WWE's Massive Indianapolis PLE Deal

WWE recently announced that three of their biggest events, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and the Royal Rumble, will all pass through the state of Indiana in the future, as the company has partnered with the Indiana Sports Corp to make Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium the sight of many big WWE moments. Originally reported by WrestleVotes, it was made official on June 24 when WWE issued a press release, and a video featuring Triple H and Pat McAfee hyping up the partnership, which begins on February 1, 2025 when the Royal Rumble takes place.

Fightful Select has followed up with extra details regarding the partnership. It has reportedly been discussed within WWE for a while that the Royal Rumble could take place in February instead of January, similar to how WrestleMania had reportedly been pitched as a May event before the announcement of WrestleMania 41 taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada on Easter weekend 2025. The reason is that WWE doesn't want to clash with the NFL season, mainly the playoffs and the SuperBowl. However, February may not be a permanent destination for the Royal Rumble.

Indianapolis hosted the 2012 SuperBowl, as well as peripheral events around it. WWE saw this as a big positive for the Lucas Oil Stadium being the venue to host their major events, as well as the stadium being indoors, and the location of the city itself being easy to access and not being too far away from other highly populated areas. When SummerSlam comes to town, it will follow the model that Minneapolis will see in 2026, as the event will be two nights, with those in WWE believing this will be the norm going forward. This hasn't been implemented on the Royal Rumble yet, but a long-time WWE higher-up told Fightful that the show could easily work as a two-night event.