I’m having lots of fun surprising people with my rekindled passion for professional wrestling. I always loved sports, particularly motorsports, but these days I’m a full-on wrestling superfan. I watch most WWE matches, follow the news, and, over the past couple of years, have tuned in to dozens of hours of documentaries about wrestlers from every era.
I found my love for wrestling the same way I found my love for motorsports: it was part of my shared family experience. I wanted to hang out with my big brothers, and they were watching wrestling… multiple nights per week. So I watched, too. I taped posters of Superstars to my bedroom walls—right next to the Backstreet Boys, A.J. Foyt, and Sam Hornish Jr., naturally—and waited anxiously for live shows to come to Indy.
My nostalgic feelings about WWE aren’t unusual, I’ve learned. When it comes up in conversation—which, lately, is every conversation—there’s always someone who chimes in with a comparable childhood story about watching their favorite wrestler and recreating matches with friends or siblings.
While my favorite thing about wrestling will always be the childlike wonder it evokes, WWE’s global growth is fascinating from a business perspective. WWE has transcended cultural conversation and established itself as one of the most unique sports and entertainment properties anywhere. No matter how you turn it, there’s nothing like World Wrestling Entertainment.
So it goes without saying I’m over the moon about the recently-announced Indiana Sports Corp partnership with WWE. I’m also thrilled to have a hand in bringing pro wrestling back to Indianapolis in a meaningful way—for the fans, community, and, selfishly, so my brothers will finally think I’m cool.
The deal brings multiple WWE events—including the biggest: WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble—mostly to Indianapolis, but also to Fort Wayne and Evansville in the coming years. I was honored to work with Sports Corp and other regional partners to secure this partnership, the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
As a committed WWE fan and proud Hoosier, I’m beaming with civic pride and excited about the fun we’re going to have welcoming the WWE Universe to our city and state. As an entrepreneur in the Indianapolis business community, I’m full of anticipation for the economic and cultural impact WWE will bring.
No. 1 Contender
There’s a lot for Indiana to be proud of in this deal.
It marks the first time WWE has committed to a multi-year, multi-event partnership with a host city, so we’re in rare air. Consider this: Last summer after a WWE event in London, a member of Parliament in the UK told reporters that British leaders should do whatever they can to host WrestleMania, WWE’s biggest event. We secured our commitment first. Sometime in the next several years, WrestleMania will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium.
When it happens, it will mark the first time Indianapolis has hosted the sport’s marquee event since WrestleMania VIII in 1992. Plenty of passionate stakeholders have pushed for the return, including determined wrestling fans and leaders in hospitality and tourism.
But there’s no time like the present, and there’s a perfect storm in our favor right now. WWE is one of the hottest properties out there. There are enough advocates here to generate the necessary energy. And Indianapolis is well-positioned to continue to host the biggest sporting events on the planet. From 108 years of the Indianapolis 500 and Super Bowl XLVI to NBA All-Star 2024, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, and everything in between, it’s obvious Indianapolis has the chops to raise the bar when it comes to generating world-class support for world-class events.
In exchange, WWE will strengthen our brand as a sports city. More than that, I believe the WWE team of Superstars and storytellers will take us to new heights in our thinking about sports entertainment.
Money in the Bank
The regional economic impact of hosting multiple WWE events in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Evansville—including holding the three biggest in Indy—is reason enough to be thrilled about this partnership. Combined, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble are worth more than $300 million, and WWE programming is broadcast across 165 countries in 25 languages.
Even more, the length and scope of this partnership with a global sports and entertainment property offers limitless economic development opportunities in terms of integrating sports business, sports tech, and the amplification of our creative economy.
IndyMania
Every time WWE comes to town over the next eight years, they’ll bring a massive spotlight: right now they have more than 365 million social media followers, more than 100 million YouTube subscribers, and more followers on Tik Tok than any American sports league, in addition to their hours of live broadcasts each week. Their reach, coupled with the innovative ways they extend their storytelling across various mediums and platforms, will showcase the best parts of our brand in new and exciting ways.
Key to WWE’s global and cultural relevance are the dynamic athletes they refer to as “Superstars.” Superstars are not only world-class athletes, they’re also charismatic performers and brand ambassadors who command the attention of stadiums full of fans and each boast massive social media followings on their own.
That’s enough for a home run for Indy right there. But there’s another great reason that WrestleMania belongs in Indianapolis.
WrestleMania is billed as the “Greatest Spectacle in Sports Entertainment”—and not for nothing. WrestleMania 38, held in Dallas in 2022, reached more than a billion people across broadcast, media, and social media mentions and delivered nearly $60 million in promotional value. (For reference, the 2022 SuperBowl boasted 1.8 billion media impressions compared to WrestleMania’s 2.2 billion.) When it comes to Indy, it will bring nearly a week of programming, including back-to-back nights at Lucas Oil Stadium, with eye-popping production value and celebrity appeal that can compete with any rock concert or sporting event in the world.
Even so, with all due respect to WrestleMania, the “Greatest Spectacle in Sports Entertainment,” I can’t imagine a more appropriate city than Indianapolis for WWE to prove that billing. Considering Indianapolis’ 100-plus year track record with our epic “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” this is a match made in heaven—and one that puts Indianapolis and the entire region in the global spotlight, yet again.
Creativity in the Fastlane
A lot of our business at Sparkland involves working with the creative class—writers, filmmakers, animators, music producers and the like. Similarly, WWE employs a team of creatives—who all work to make their unique product over-the-top incredible. I like to say that WWE is 100 percent sport and 100 percent entertainment. It’s the creatives who help them strike their perfect balance. In many ways, that’s what excites me most about this long-term partnership with WWE.
As we were working on this deal, we traveled to the 2023 Royal Rumble event in San Antonio, Texas, where we got a behind-the-scenes look of the WWE team as they produced the premium live event. We saw the Superstars engage with international media at a press event, a community event with local organizations and Special Olympics, fan experiences on-site, and an incredible show as the finale.
One of the most impressive parts of that experience was getting to see the excellence and simultaneous lightheartedness of the WWE team. They’re proud of the work they do and excited to collaborate with people who appreciate their product.
Because of the length of our unprecedented deal, our local creatives will have opportunities to learn from theirs. How we build these creative collaborations is up to us—we get to write the blueprint for this unprecedented partnership, and we’re committed to benefiting the local creative class in measurable ways.
The Excellence of Execution
Every die hard WWE fan has a favorite wrestler, probably a few of them, and I’m no different. I love Drew McIntyre, Rhea Ripley, and Jey Uso. But it’s WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart, also known as the Excellence of Execution and the Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be, who will forever be my top tier.
Bret is known not only as one of professional wrestling’s greatest athletes, he’s also one of its best and most committed storytellers. When he was in the ring, Bret was known for the skilled way he put other wrestlers over (aka: made them look good), elevating their careers along with the business as a whole. He is also a stickler for preparation and working hard to achieve a goal—two values we hold dear in the midwest.
In a lot of ways, I consider Bret’s career a roadmap for the path we should take here in Indiana to make the most of this tremendous eight-year opportunity. If we do, maybe we’ll be able to claim we’re the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.
When we do that, I’ll be thrilled. And maybe my brothers will think I’m cool.
