Closing Bell

WrestleMania returns to Las Vegas this weekend, “just a year after one of the most successful WrestleMania weekend’s in history,” and WWE President Nick Khan remains “bullish on the market.” The city “has become a major focal point” for Khan and WWE. All TKO properties “remain committed to the market and Khan has no concern about oversaturation.” While “there is no doubt about the city’s ability to host the event, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Khan and the WWE” -- as “concerns over slow ticket sales have now become part of the on-screen buildup to the event” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/17). As of Friday morning, ringside tickets for Saturday’s event “are going for $16,000, and nosebleeds were about $200″ (NEWS3LV.com, 4/17).

ESPN is giving WrestleMania the “big-event treatment.” The two-night event will stream on the ESPN app for the first time, but the “opening hour on Saturday will air on ESPN2, while Sunday’s first hour will air on ESPN.” A WrestleMania 42 preview show will air Friday at 5pm ET on ESPN2, while “countdown shows leading into both nights will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.” ESPN also will air Friday night’s WWE HOF ceremony on the app (AP, 4/14).

TKO Group executive Nick Khan said one of the challenges with trying to price tickets these days is how brokers snap up low-priced inventory, leading to regular fans paying more and properties missing out on unrealized revenue. Asked at this week’s CAA World Congress of Sports about how WWE is taking steps to preserve the opportunity for all fans to attend its shows, Khan brought up a phenomenon that TKO saw when it started its Zuffa Boxing property last fall with the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“We wanted to make sure the upper bowl was priced family friendly,” Khan said. “As soon as we put them on sale, the upper bowl was sold out in three minutes. It wasn’t sold out to families. It was sold out to third-party ticket brokers. So the cheapest we priced seats was I think at $35. A day later on the third-party broker websites, there were $75 [tickets]. So the marketplace dictates the ticket price.”

He said the company views secondary market prices as the actual marketplace and sets the initial prices based on where they anticipate the secondary market rates will land.

The WWE president said he hopes to get close to last year’s record-breaking gate for WrestleMania 42 this weekend in Vegas. The 2025 show, WrestleMania 41, was also held at Allegiant and drew nearly 125,000 fans over two days in what WWE later said was its highest grossing showcase ever. Wrestling news site Post Wrestling later cited Pollstar data as the gate being over $66 million. Said Khan: “Listen, last year we set records, which we set the year prior, the year prior to that. So this year, we think it’s going to get close to that record -- but fingers crossed.”

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The Univ. of Nebraska Board of Regents next week will consider a $600M renovation of Memorial Stadium “after a two-year pause that began in near lockstep” with AD Troy Dannen’s hiring. The new project is $150M more than former AD Trev Alberts got approved in 2023 by the regents and includes $200M in “deferred maintenance work” on the west side’s 100-year-old foundation. The project features a “rebuilt, three-tier structure on the west side packed with premium seating options, a massive entrance, on the southwest corner, through which nearly half of Husker fans will enter and a 360-degree concourse that connects all four sides of the stadium.” Donors will supply $250M of the $600M cost, while the other $350M “will be financed through bonds that NU intends to pay back in part with additional revenue generated by the new 80,000-seat stadium.” Nebraska “plans to complete work just before the 2028 season,” with construction overseen by Kiewit Corporation (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 4/17).

Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium north endzone renovation project “has received final approval,” with the estimated $305M project to be “financed by bond and gift funds.” The project features “a seven-story, approximately 300,000 square-foot addition to the existing stadium.” It is the second major project to the north side of Jordan-Hare Stadium in recent years, as a new north endzone videoboard was debuted last season. The multi-purpose building is designed “for both gameday and campus use” and will “include dining and concession venues, a multi-purpose hall and ballroom, and new premium suites.” Small “adjustments to the current bowl of the stadium will be made during construction,” including some seats “taken out of the bottom ground level to create a field club along with seats in the top corners.” In addition, a proposal for a “re-envisioning” of the space outside Jordan-Hare Stadium was approved during Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting (AL.com, 4/17).

WNBA expansion team Toronto Tempo on Friday unveiled “plans to develop a high-performance training facility” in partnership with the city that is “scheduled to open in 2028.” The C$100M multi-use facility, which will be “fully funded by the Tempo,” is “expected to include two WNBA regulation courts and state-of-the-art player amenities and locker rooms.” The two-story facility will include “dedicated sports medicine, performance and recovery areas, a strength and conditioning space, hydrotherapy pools, a sauna, player lounges and dining areas, conference rooms and a fully-equipped theatre for film study.” No city funding “will go into developing the facility.” Construction is “expected to begin this fall, pending city council approval” (TORONTO STAR, 4/17).

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The PWHL on Friday is set to surpass 1 million fans in attendance in a single season for the first time in league history. The milestone comes in the league’s 109th game of its third season, a matchup between the Montréal Victoire and Boston Fleet. The milestone comes in 46 games fewer than the PWHL needed to reach its first million fans, which came in 155 games across its first two seasons -- including the first season’s playoffs -- before reaching its second million all-time in 120 games. Through 108 games of the 2025-26 season, attendance is 996,756 for an average of 9,229 fans per game -- an average increase of 28% over last season. The league has broken multiple attendance records this season, including in its respective debuts at TD Garden (17,850) and MSG (18,006). The PWHL closes out its regular season on April 25 (PWHL).

The debut Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic presented by Oakley -- set to be held Saturday and Sunday at Arizona State Univ. -- “will be telecast live exclusively on ESPNU and the ESPN app.” The championship game and semifinal games “will be featured,” with Phoebe Schecter and Kyle Bailey on the call. Schecter works as a flag football analyst for ESPN, the Fanatics Flag Football Classic and other events, while Bailey is USA Football’s play-by-play voice, having served as the official play-by-play announcer “for the organization’s premier international flag football events.” The other 17 games of the two-day event “will be livestreamed” at FiestaSportsFoundation.org/FlagFootball, and all games will be produced by HomeTeam Network (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/17).

Women’s flag football is “growing leaps and bounds at the collegiate level as it barrels towards” the 2028 L.A. Games. The NCAA put flag football on its Emerging Sports for Women program in January, while Nebraska “became the first Power 4 school to start a varsity program this year” and Eastern Michigan this week “became the 18th Division I school to announce it was launching a team at the varsity level.” The Big South is “beginning its varsity league next year and the Big 12 said recently it wants to have a league of at least six teams by 2028″ (USA TODAY, 4/17).

In its first collaboration with the NFL, All Elite Wrestling has created a collection of team-themed lucha masks that are available in time for the NFL Draft. The idea was first mentioned by AEW President & CEO Tony Khan during Super Bowl week. Khan’s father, Shad, owns the Jaguars and Tony Khan is the team’s Chief Football Strategy Officer. The masks sell for $60 and are available at ShopAEW.com (SBJ).