Backstage Update On WWE Banning WrestleMania Watch Parties In Las Vegas

The previously planned local blackout on WrestleMania watch parties in Las Vegas has officially been lifted.

In recent months, multiple venues in the Las Vegas area were informed that WWE and Joe Hand Promotions intended to enforce a blackout on WrestleMania watch parties within a 50-mile radius of the event’s host venue. A similar restriction had been implemented around the Elimination Chamber event in Chicago earlier this year.

However, that policy will no longer apply in Las Vegas.

Late in the week, sources indicated there had been growing momentum behind allowing licensed venues to host WrestleMania watch parties after all. By Friday, Circa Las Vegas’ Stadium Swim announced that the blackout had been removed, clearing the way for establishments that license WWE Premium Live Events through Joe Hand Promotions to show the broadcast.

As recently as a week ago, several venues had been under the impression that the restriction would remain in place.

The blackout was originally intended to encourage stronger ticket sales for WrestleMania events in the host city — a strategy that was once more common across various sports leagues. In recent weeks, however, numerous casinos, hotels, and tourism-related businesses reportedly expressed frustration with the limitation.

Some city officials also pushed back on the decision.

One official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, noted that when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors agreed to pay a site fee to bring WrestleMania to the city, the expectation was that the event would generate economic benefits across Las Vegas as a whole — not just for WWE and the venue hosting the show.

(H/T: Fightful Select)