We’re at least one month away from the 2021 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view and there’s no confirmation on if WWE will bring fans into Tropicana Field for the big event or not.
In what could be a good sign for WWE bringing fans to The Rumble, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors announced today that they will allow a limited number of fans at home games from Tampa’s Amalie Arena. The team is based in Toronto but is using the Amalie Arena for the 2020-2021 NBA season due to the COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.
The Raptors will make fewer than 3,200 seats available for pre-season games, beginning with the game against the Miami Heat on December 18. After the pre-season games, up to 3,800 fans will be able to attend regular season games. No floor seats will be sold to fans, and no seats will be available within 30 feet of the court.
It’s been reported that WWE has had a main goal of using real, live fans in the crowd at the 2021 Royal Rumble. If that happens, it will be interesting to see how they bring fans into the crowd with the ThunderDome setup at Tropicana Field.
WWE has been allowed to have fans at recent events ever since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped some COVID-19 restrictions back in September, some that allow all Florida stadiums to go full capacity. WWE noted in their November 19 announcement on the new Tropicana Field residency that only essential personnel will be in attendance at events held from inside the the domed stadium, but it’s likely that an exception could be made for certain events, such as the Royal Rumble. WWE has had some fans at recent WWE NXT TV tapings from the Capitol Wrestling Center inside the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, and they had fans in attendance for some of the RAW and SmackDown tapings held at the Performance Center earlier this year.
WWE has not announced the official date for the 2021 Rumble event, but it’s expected for late January. The pay-per-view will air live from the WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Stay tuned for updates.
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