— A few days ago, the WrestleVotes account broke news that WWE was looking to bring multiple premium live events, to Indianapolis and earlier this morning the company made it official by announcing a historic agreement with the state of Indiana. The announcement confirmed that WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble would all be taking place in the city of Indianapolis over the next few years.
— While full details weren’t announced, we do know that Indianapolis gets Royal Rumble 2025 on February 1 at Lucas Oil Stadium with WrestleMania and SummerSlam to take place in “future years.” However, WrestleMania 41 in 2025 has already been announced for Las Vegas with SummerSlam 2025 still unannounced; SummerSlam 2026 will be in Minneapolis. If Indianapolis does indeed secure next year’s SummerSlam, it would give the city two major events within months, the first time in WWE history that would have happened. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the site fee that WWE will be getting for Royal Rumble and the future WrestleMania is the largest payday the company will have ever gotten for those respective events. Indianapolis has received positive reviews from the company for its ease of access into the city, proximity to other major cities, its indoor stadium and historically strong shows for peripheral events during past Super Bowls.
— Fightfulselect.com reported this morning that Royal Rumble taking place in February (rather than its usual January date) has long been discussed alongside a May WrestleMania. The main reason for this is WWE wanting to avoid direct head-to-head clashes with other sporting events, specifically the NFL playoffs and The Super Bowl. As a result, it is believed that the date for Royal Rumble in future years will be dependent on the NFL calendar meaning it could be in either January or February.
— The report also noted that next year’s SummerSlam in Minneapolis is a two-night event and it is believed that moving forward, WWE will hold all SummerSlam shows over two nights, which would imply that this year’s 2024 show will be one night. There have been no reports that WWE would also expand Royal Rumble to two nights, however, the way that show is constructed (with a men’s and women’s Rumble match), it would be very easy for WWE to expand that as well.