Tonight’s WWE Money In the Bank Premium Live Event is airing live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but the show was originally announced for Allegiant Stadium in the same city. The venue was changed reportedly due to low ticket sales.
A new report from Fightful Select notes that the venue change surprised many within WWE as the move to more stadium shows has been a big plan for WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan.
Khan has been a big proponent of stadium shows but also Saturday events. One source indicated the Money In the Bank move would be one of Khan’s first “misfires,” but it was also said by WWE sources that Money In the Bank would’ve ended up selling 20-25,000 tickets by the time the show happened.
There was a feeling among at least one source that WWE should’ve waited until after Hell In a Cell to see how ticket sales changed, and believed that WWE relied too much on the buzz of simply running a stadium show as opposed to creative selling the show.
Tonight’s UFC 276 pay-per-view will also air live from Vegas, at the T-Mobile Arena. While WWE did announce Money In the Bank before UFC announced their pay-per-view for the same night, there’s a feeling that either WWE did or should have expected UFC to run tonight as the July 4th weekend has been a UFC tradition in Vegas with International Fight Week.
WWE actually had a hold on Allegiant Stadium for Sunday night as well in case they needed it.
Since the Money In the Bank venue change, Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes have been put on the shelf, and Brock Lesnar had to be called back for the Last Man Standing match with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SummerSlam later this month. A WWE source commented on what’s happened in the lead-up to tonight’s show.
“Well, considering we couldn’t have predicted all of that, and the event sold out at the new location, it doesn’t look too bad,” the source said.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more and join us for live MITB coverage at this link.
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