WWE SVP Says Another Sponsorship Match Will Happen At Wrestlemania 39

As previously reported, WWE had a very successful Royal Rumble this year, as viewership, the live gate and merchandise sales were all up. It was also noted that sponsorship was up nearly 200% from last year. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, WWE senior VP and head of global sales and partnerships Craig Stimmel said that there will be another sponsorship match at Wrestlemania 39. The Royal Rumble had its own with the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match between Bray Wyatt and LA Knight. Stimmel noted that sponsorship revenue for ‘Mania is already 43% higher than last year. A source added that the revenue is currently $14 million-$15 million, which will be a new record. Here are highlights:

On sponsorship plans: “We’re tracking exactly where we want to be going into the events,” Stimmel says. “We’ve also got a diverse set of sponsorships coming in … we’ve got snacks, we have beverages, among others. So it’s a really nice diverse portfolio of brands that are joining in a myriad of ways.”

On planning for Wrestlemania: “When you think about putting WrestleMania on, we’re going to be showing across millions of households on Peacock, we’re also going to have a social presence. We’re also going to have a post-match press conference that’s going to be sponsored this year — you saw that with Mountain Dew and Royal Rumble — but we’re going to have that again at WrestleMania. It’s on YouTube and on TikTok and on Facebook, so we’re gonna have a myriad of opportunities to tell a brand story across different spectrums with different voices. So I think when we approach brands, we want to make sure that that holistic picture is in place… we’re looking for that audience overlap.”

On another sponsored match: “I don’t want to give away too much, but it’ll be around a match, and the sponsorship of that match, and what they’ll be able to bring to that match. So we’re going to do things that fit inside of our storyline as well.”