Back in January, our guy Herbie Brooks wrote an excellent piece on whether or not Nashville was prepared to host a Super Bowl. While I agree with his sentiment, for the most part, I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not things would be different for a Wrestlemania. I think they are. We’re talking about two different audiences, both in demographic and size. Wrestlemania is a much more wallet-friendly event, and quite frankly, isn’t going to draw as large of a crowd as a Super Bowl (reports show over a million people visited Minnesota for Super Bowl LII). Wrestlemania could work in Nashville. Here’s why:
The Venue
Right off the bat, you wonder about the venue. The first one that comes to mind is Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. It has a capacity of 69,143, so it’s comparable to the Citrus Bowl (capacity: 65K, reported attendance: 75K), where they held Wrestlemanias 24 and 33. Could they add enough seats in Nissan Stadium to get it up to that 75K attendance figure? Sure!
Vanderbilt Stadium is the next best option, but it only has a capacity of 40K. So, considering Bridgestone Arena has a capacity of around 17K for hockey, and First Tennessee Park has a capacity of around 10K for baseball, there really is no other option in town than Nissan Stadium.
It’s open on each end, though, which makes it kind of awkward from a logistics standpoint. They could set up similarly to how they did in Orlando last year, but I think from a “vision” perspective, it would just look weird. That’s just me projecting.
But, the thing Nissan Stadium has going against itself the most is its age. It’s 20 years old now, and while it’s not in need of any major structural overhaul, it still can’t compete with some of these newer stadiums such as in New Jersey, Minnesota, and Atlanta. It’s much less desirable in comparison.
The Nashville Brand
I wrote a while ago that Wrestlemania is no longer about actual wrestling, but the spectacle of the event itself. They love marketing Wrestlemania – giving each event its own branding and theme. There are few places in the country as hot as Nashville right now, plain and simple.
The city itself has an identity, no different from this year’s host, New Orleans. Sure, it would be pretty hokey. Can you imagine all of the wrestlers walking out of a giant guitar? As much as us locals hate it, that’s the kind of stuff the WWE eats up.
Or, am I wrong? Is New Orleans nothing but jazz and Bourbon Street?
Downtown Proximity
Between Nissan Stadium, the new convention center, Bridgestone Arena, and all of the hotels, bars, and restaurants down around Broadway, the setup for a great event is already installed and ready to go. Seriously, whoever ultimately decided to spruce up Nashville back in the late 90s and put everything together in one nice, neat little entertainment area was a genius. I can walk a few blocks from the stadium to the convention center. There’s a wealth of hotels downtown now as the city is making even more of an effort to ramp up tourism. It’s all right there within a few blocks of each other. The party in town would be legendary – and the convention center would be more than capable of handling all of the ancillary “access” events or whatever it’s called.
Also, how about a Hall of Fame ceremony at The Ryman? Just somethin’ to chew on there.
Ultimately, I think Nashville would be lost in the shuffle because of how Nissan Stadium reflects against some of the newer NFL stadiums in the country. But, otherwise, I don’t see why the Music City wouldn’t be ready for a Wrestlemania.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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