Black Widow
09-19-2009, 09:58 PM
While Miami-Dade County gears to host its 10th NFL Super Bowl, the Miami-Dade Sports Commission awaits the results on a bid for another mega, super bowl style event, World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania.
Miami-Dade County is in the running for WWE's WrestleMania 27 in 2011 or WrestleMania 28 in 2012. Through the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, Miami flipped its hat into the ring.
``Our focus is 2011,'' said Mike Sophia, executive director of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission. ``Hopefully, it will happen.''
It would be the first WrestleMania in South Florida.
Miami is ready.
Sophia said: ``We will be so successful that WWE will want to return to Miami for more WrestleManias because we want them here, and we want them to come back.''
The revenue generated from such an undertaking is in the same conversation as an NFL Super Bowl, making WrestleMania a coveted event for any major city. Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto and Orlando have hosted the extravaganza.
Speaking of Orlando, WrestleMania 24 pumped $50 million into the local Orlando economy in 2008 and set the Citrus Bowl attendance record with 74,635 fans from 50 states, five Canadian provinces and 21 countries -- generating more than $5.85 million in ticket sales.
WWE's John Saboor and Dennis Sullivan visited Miami for two days in mid-August, canvasing area facilities and hotels. Saboor, former president of the Central Florida Sports Commission who played a pivotal role in convincing WWE to bring WrestleMania 24 to Orlando, became WWE's new Senior Vice President, Special Events, a few months later.
In the newly created position, Saboor has primary responsibility for community partnerships, marketing, promotion and sponsorship support for WWE's special events, including WrestleMania, WWE's annual pop culture extravaganza.
Sophia along with Jose Pepe Diaz, sports commission chairman and a Miami-Dade county commissioner; Jarred Diamond, vice president of booking and assistant general manager with AmericanAirlines Arena; and William D. Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and a sports commission board member, helped welcome Saboor and Sullivan.
The site check went well.
WWE considered 15 to 20 cities. About half or fewer were invited to Stanford, Conn., WWE's headquarters, to make their best pitch.
WWE, the publicly-traded empire led by Chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon and the McMahon family, features WrestleMania annually in March or April. WWE is a family operation with Forbes-esq status.
Basically, Miami's contingent had 30 minutes to state its case before Shane McMahon, executive vice president of WWE Global Media; his father, Mr. McMahon; and roughly 10 WWE senior staff members.
``We fancy ourselves as good branders,'' Talbert said, ``but those people are some of the top brand specialists in the world. Everyone is on the same page, and when I talked to some of their senior managers, they've been there for a while, and that's always a good sign in a company.''
The locals focused on key points, and that was followed by a Q&A.
``There were a number of cities in the hunt, and it has been [trimmed] down, and we are still in it,'' Talbert said. ``We got a very good feeling. We have a special place here in Miami. We can distinguish ourselves from anybody else in the country.''
Miami is recognized as a global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade.
Tourism is an important industry in Miami. The beaches, conventions, festivals and events draw more than 12 million visitors annually from across the country and around the world, spending $17.1 billion. The historical Art Deco district in South Beach, is widely regarded as one of the most glamorous in the world for its world-famous nightclubs, beaches, historical buildings and shopping.
The Port of Miami is known for accommodating the largest volume of cruise ships in the world and is home to many cruise line headquarters.
In 2008, Miami was ranked as America's Cleanest City according to Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs.
Talbert said: ``What resinated well with WWE is Miami does big events very well.''
Super Bowls, Olympic soccer, BCS national championships, NBA finals, MLB world series, NCAA March Madness, NASCAR and Indy car championships among others, Miami-Dade County is accustomed to hosting big time events successfully -- first class, first rate.
``This will be the first event, should we be chosen, we will,'' Talbert said confidently. ``This will be the first event in Miami history to use Land Shark Stadium [formerly Joe Robbie Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins] and the AmericanAirlines Arena [home of the Miami Heat] and also the Miami Beach Convention Center.
``No event, and I've been in Miami for 40 years, and I've been at the bureau for 20 years. I've been involved in every major event that has come to this town in the last 20 years. No event. Not Microsoft. Not the Super Bowl. Not anything else has used the stadium and the arena and the convention center. It has never happened before.''
Miami's proposal includes WrestleMania (on a Sunday night) at Land Shark Stadium, seating estimated at 75,000; WWE Hall of Fame ceremony (the night before WrestleMania) and Monday Night Raw (the night after WrestleMania) at the AmericanAirlines Arena; and the WrestleMania Fax Axxess (multi-day fan fest) at the convention center.
``So this would be a first,'' Talbert said, ``and that alone tells you the economic impact for Miami will be huge.''
WrestleMania is televised via pay-per-view to more than 100 countries.
``WWE like a lot of companies -- whether it's NASCAR, obviously the NFL -- is going global, and our Latin American base, our offices in Latin America were of much interest to WWE in what we could bring to the table to help sell the event.''
Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially from South America and the Caribbean.
Talbert added: ``We have Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau reps in Mexico, in Argentina, in Venezuela, in Colombia and two offices in Brazil. They were very interested in that fact.''
In 2009 pay-per-views, WWE WrestleMania 25 on April 5 from Houston ranked second with 960,000 buys.
``It is a major pay-per-view,'' Talbert said. ``This is big, big, big and big.''
The 26th WrestleMania is March 28, 2010 from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Talbert said: ``They are doing major promotions for WrestleMania in Phoenix, doing some cross marketing with the NFL and college football games there.''
Just how appealing is the WWE brand?
WWE is seen on prime time television four nights a week (WWE Monday Night Raw 9 p.m. EST Mondays on USA Network; WWE's ECW 10 p.m. EST Tuesdays on ScyFy; WWE Superstars 8 p.m. Thursdays on WGN; WWE SmackDown 8 p.m. EST Fridays on MyNetwork TV), and programming is distributed internationally.
The company also conducts a monthly pay-per-view with WrestleMania being its grand daddy of them all, its biggest money maker.
• In March 2008 for WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, about three-fourths of the fans came from beyond Central Florida and stayed for an average of four days. The show also generated $1.8 million in local tax revenue.
It marked the first time WWE's annual sports-entertainment spectacular emanated from Florida. It was outdoors for the second time in history. Land Shark Stadium would be the third.
MiamiHerald.com
Miami-Dade County is in the running for WWE's WrestleMania 27 in 2011 or WrestleMania 28 in 2012. Through the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, Miami flipped its hat into the ring.
``Our focus is 2011,'' said Mike Sophia, executive director of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission. ``Hopefully, it will happen.''
It would be the first WrestleMania in South Florida.
Miami is ready.
Sophia said: ``We will be so successful that WWE will want to return to Miami for more WrestleManias because we want them here, and we want them to come back.''
The revenue generated from such an undertaking is in the same conversation as an NFL Super Bowl, making WrestleMania a coveted event for any major city. Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto and Orlando have hosted the extravaganza.
Speaking of Orlando, WrestleMania 24 pumped $50 million into the local Orlando economy in 2008 and set the Citrus Bowl attendance record with 74,635 fans from 50 states, five Canadian provinces and 21 countries -- generating more than $5.85 million in ticket sales.
WWE's John Saboor and Dennis Sullivan visited Miami for two days in mid-August, canvasing area facilities and hotels. Saboor, former president of the Central Florida Sports Commission who played a pivotal role in convincing WWE to bring WrestleMania 24 to Orlando, became WWE's new Senior Vice President, Special Events, a few months later.
In the newly created position, Saboor has primary responsibility for community partnerships, marketing, promotion and sponsorship support for WWE's special events, including WrestleMania, WWE's annual pop culture extravaganza.
Sophia along with Jose Pepe Diaz, sports commission chairman and a Miami-Dade county commissioner; Jarred Diamond, vice president of booking and assistant general manager with AmericanAirlines Arena; and William D. Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and a sports commission board member, helped welcome Saboor and Sullivan.
The site check went well.
WWE considered 15 to 20 cities. About half or fewer were invited to Stanford, Conn., WWE's headquarters, to make their best pitch.
WWE, the publicly-traded empire led by Chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon and the McMahon family, features WrestleMania annually in March or April. WWE is a family operation with Forbes-esq status.
Basically, Miami's contingent had 30 minutes to state its case before Shane McMahon, executive vice president of WWE Global Media; his father, Mr. McMahon; and roughly 10 WWE senior staff members.
``We fancy ourselves as good branders,'' Talbert said, ``but those people are some of the top brand specialists in the world. Everyone is on the same page, and when I talked to some of their senior managers, they've been there for a while, and that's always a good sign in a company.''
The locals focused on key points, and that was followed by a Q&A.
``There were a number of cities in the hunt, and it has been [trimmed] down, and we are still in it,'' Talbert said. ``We got a very good feeling. We have a special place here in Miami. We can distinguish ourselves from anybody else in the country.''
Miami is recognized as a global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade.
Tourism is an important industry in Miami. The beaches, conventions, festivals and events draw more than 12 million visitors annually from across the country and around the world, spending $17.1 billion. The historical Art Deco district in South Beach, is widely regarded as one of the most glamorous in the world for its world-famous nightclubs, beaches, historical buildings and shopping.
The Port of Miami is known for accommodating the largest volume of cruise ships in the world and is home to many cruise line headquarters.
In 2008, Miami was ranked as America's Cleanest City according to Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs.
Talbert said: ``What resinated well with WWE is Miami does big events very well.''
Super Bowls, Olympic soccer, BCS national championships, NBA finals, MLB world series, NCAA March Madness, NASCAR and Indy car championships among others, Miami-Dade County is accustomed to hosting big time events successfully -- first class, first rate.
``This will be the first event, should we be chosen, we will,'' Talbert said confidently. ``This will be the first event in Miami history to use Land Shark Stadium [formerly Joe Robbie Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins] and the AmericanAirlines Arena [home of the Miami Heat] and also the Miami Beach Convention Center.
``No event, and I've been in Miami for 40 years, and I've been at the bureau for 20 years. I've been involved in every major event that has come to this town in the last 20 years. No event. Not Microsoft. Not the Super Bowl. Not anything else has used the stadium and the arena and the convention center. It has never happened before.''
Miami's proposal includes WrestleMania (on a Sunday night) at Land Shark Stadium, seating estimated at 75,000; WWE Hall of Fame ceremony (the night before WrestleMania) and Monday Night Raw (the night after WrestleMania) at the AmericanAirlines Arena; and the WrestleMania Fax Axxess (multi-day fan fest) at the convention center.
``So this would be a first,'' Talbert said, ``and that alone tells you the economic impact for Miami will be huge.''
WrestleMania is televised via pay-per-view to more than 100 countries.
``WWE like a lot of companies -- whether it's NASCAR, obviously the NFL -- is going global, and our Latin American base, our offices in Latin America were of much interest to WWE in what we could bring to the table to help sell the event.''
Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially from South America and the Caribbean.
Talbert added: ``We have Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau reps in Mexico, in Argentina, in Venezuela, in Colombia and two offices in Brazil. They were very interested in that fact.''
In 2009 pay-per-views, WWE WrestleMania 25 on April 5 from Houston ranked second with 960,000 buys.
``It is a major pay-per-view,'' Talbert said. ``This is big, big, big and big.''
The 26th WrestleMania is March 28, 2010 from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Talbert said: ``They are doing major promotions for WrestleMania in Phoenix, doing some cross marketing with the NFL and college football games there.''
Just how appealing is the WWE brand?
WWE is seen on prime time television four nights a week (WWE Monday Night Raw 9 p.m. EST Mondays on USA Network; WWE's ECW 10 p.m. EST Tuesdays on ScyFy; WWE Superstars 8 p.m. Thursdays on WGN; WWE SmackDown 8 p.m. EST Fridays on MyNetwork TV), and programming is distributed internationally.
The company also conducts a monthly pay-per-view with WrestleMania being its grand daddy of them all, its biggest money maker.
• In March 2008 for WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, about three-fourths of the fans came from beyond Central Florida and stayed for an average of four days. The show also generated $1.8 million in local tax revenue.
It marked the first time WWE's annual sports-entertainment spectacular emanated from Florida. It was outdoors for the second time in history. Land Shark Stadium would be the third.
MiamiHerald.com