Wrestlemania is coming to Philly in 2024

Finally, Wrestlemania has come back to Philadelphia — well, in 2024, anyway.

Why it matters: It's the second major sporting ("sporting"?) event that Lincoln Financial Field has landed in as many months, alongside the World Cup.

• It's something of a coup for the city. Like the Super Bowl, Wrestlemania usually ends up in warm-weather or domed stadiums, and the rumor mill had swirled around Vegas for months.
• Wrestlemania 40 will be the first time Philly hosts WWE's premier showcase since 1999.

State of play: The two-day main event is only one part of a week of festivities, bookended by Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night Raw at the Wells Fargo Center, and the WWE is promising huge amounts of money for the city.

• Arlington, Texas said that it raked in more than $200 million in economic impact from this year's Wrestlemania, with two-thirds of the 156,000 attendees coming from outside the area.

Worth noting: Arlington's pronouncement has a byline from the WWE's communications arm.

• Corporations like to fudge those economic impact numbers around big events. A Williams College study found that the Super Bowl probably only pulls in a quarter of what the NFL claims.

The big picture: The announcement comes at a time of massive upheaval for the WWE, following the abrupt retirement of longtime chairman and CEO Vince McMahon amid a hush money scandal.

• Under McMahon, the company struck a huge, multi-year streaming deal with NBC's Peacock last year.
• McMahon's retirement is even fueling rumors that the WWE could be sold.