Vegas WrestleMania Watch Parties Back On (Patreon)

The local blackout of WrestleMania has been lifted.

In recent months, Fightful Select got word from a number of sources in Las Vegas that WWE and Joe Hand Promotions had informed them that they were instituting a blackout of WrestleMania watch parties within 50 miles of the venue. The same thing was put in place for a number of venues near Elimination Chamber in Chicago, but it appears that won't be an issue in Las Vegas.

Late in the week, Fightful was told there was positive momentum on watch parties being allowed in Vegas. On Friday, Circa Las Vegas' Stadium Swim revealed that the ban had been lifted, giving way to the watch parties for locations that license the PLE through Joe Hand Promotions. As recently as a week before some venues had spoken to WWE and believed WWE would stand firm.

WWE had originally decided on the blackout in order to help boost ticket sales for events, which used to be a far more common practice in sports. We're told that over the last number of weeks, there were several casinos, hotels, and general tourist areas that had expressed frustration over the ban, as had a number of officials in the city. One that spoke to us on the condition of anonymity said that when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors committed to a site fee for WrestleMania, it was to generate economic impact for the entire city, as opposed to just WWE and Allegiant Stadium.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp will be on the scene at Circa Las Vegas covering the events there, which includes Naomi Rosenblum's Art Exhibition, Chris Van Vliet's live show, and Denise Salcedo's live show.