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Allegiant Stadium to set NFL first by hosting WWE’s SummerSlam

Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, will set a first for an NFL venue after being awarded hosting rights for WWE’s SummerSlam event.

SummerSlam will take place on August 21 and will mark one of the first sporting events held at full capacity at the 65,000-seat stadium, which opened last year.

Tickets for the event will go on sale on June 18, with fans interested in an exclusive presale opportunity able to register their interest at www.summerslam.com/presale.

Nick Khan, WWE president and chief revenue officer, said: “Coming out of the pandemic, it was important to us to have a big event like SummerSlam in Las Vegas. We expect to deliver a great night of sports entertainment for the people of the city and a boost in foot traffic for the casinos and local businesses.”

Steve Hill, president and chief executive of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, added: “We couldn’t be more excited to host SummerSlam for the very first time and welcome WWE, its superstars and the WWE universe to Las Vegas this August. Live entertainment and sporting events are returning to the destination in a big way, and SummerSlam is the perfect addition to the Las Vegas summer calendar.”

Although Allegiant Stadium opened last year, Raiders fans have not been able to attend games at the venue due to COVID-19 restrictions. The stadium is widely expected to open at full capacity for the 2021 NFL season as infection rates in the US fall and the roll-out of vaccinations continues.

The stadium has been awarded hosting rights to this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup final on August 1, with details about attendance and ticketing to be announced nearer the time.

SummerSlam is viewed as WWE’s second biggest event, behind WrestleMania. This year’s WrestleMania took place at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on April 10-11.

Raymond James Stadium, which also hosted the Super Bowl in February, operated at 36% capacity for the WrestleMania event. The 2020 SummerSlam took place at Orlando’s Amway Center, which staged a number of WWE events without fans last year under the ThunderDome banner.

Image: JediRich/CC BY 3.0/Edited for size