Minnesota Mania passed on “due to change in direction” by new WWE ownership

Minnesota’s third attempt to bring WrestleMania to the city fell apart after Las Vegas entered the race.

The result was obviously a disappointment for those who worked on the bid at the Minnesota Sports and Events.

“We were informed by WWE that Minnesota would not host WrestleMania in 2025 due to a change in direction by new ownership,” Wendy Blackshaw, MNSE’s president and chief executive, told The Star Tribute. “Although disappointed, we are in discussions with WWE about future events in Minnesota. We are optimistic that Minnesota will host WWE events here in the future.”

The pitch was to host WrestleMania at the U.S. Bank Stadium and all the other televised events at The Target Center. The U.S. Bank Stadium holds 73,000 fans while The Target Center seats up to 20,000.

As late as mid-March, Blackshaw said she was hopeful that they got the event and was looking forward to see the result within weeks.

The city was already a candidate to host WrestleMania 33 and prepared a bid to host WrestleMania 36 as well but 33 went to Orlando and 36 originally went to Tampa, although it ended up being at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando due to the COVID-19 pandemic.