While Levi’s Stadium has not yet completed construction, it may very well come down in early 2015. With the San Francisco 49ers being a perennial playoff team in the National Football League, the stadium should be rocking in the early stages of the year. However, the stadium will not receive a break from sporting pandemonium after the NFL playoffs conclude.
Jamie Matthews, the Mayor of Santa Clara, Calif., with Vince McMahon. Photo by Devin Chen, www.chdevinphotos.com
WWE WrestleMania XXXI will be held at the Santa Clara-based stadium on March 29, 2015. The WWE held a press conference Tuesday morning to announce the plan, which confirmed that “The Granddaddy of Them All” in the sports-entertainment world be centered in the Bay Area.
Mike Rosenberg of the local San Jose Mercury News detailed the magnitude of the event in a piece on Sunday. “For host regions, past WrestleManias have drawn 125,000 visitors and more than 1 million viewers on pay-per-view and generated more than $100 million in economic impact, including more than $16 million in local tax revenues, the WWE says,” wrote Rosenberg. “Past WrestleManias have held more than 80,000 attendees, producing more than $12 million in ticket sales and $72 million in pay-per-view buys.”
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon led the press conference, accompanied by a slew of WWE Superstars that included WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, and Total Divas stars Nikki and Brie Bella. Additionally, 49ers CEO Jed York and star tight end and former Pro Bowler Vernon Davis took part in the press conference to celebrate the monumental news.
Rosenberg also gathered thoughts on the event from the 49ers CEO. “WWE is certainly a model for innovation as they have perfectly blended the worlds of sports and entertainment. We look forward to providing the most technologically-integrated WrestleMania experience ever,” York said in a statement to the paper.
In addition to the event itself, the week-long extravaganza that precedes the show will have events centered in San Jose and San Francisco — the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and Monday Night Raw will both be in San Jose. Tickets go on sale late next year for the 31st installment of the event.