– WWE sent out the following this afternoon:
ATLANTA TO HOST WRESTLEMANIA® XXVII
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATLANTA, GA – February 1, 2010 — The Atlanta Sports Council, Georgia World Congress Center Authority and World Wrestling Entertainment® are proud to announce that the Georgia Dome will host WrestleMania XXVII on Sunday, April 3, 2011.
The announcement was made at a press conference today at the Georgia Dome. The Honorable Mayor Kasim Reed, Atlanta Sports Council President Gary Stokan, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development Ken Stewart and Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay joined WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon in making the announcement. WWE Superstars John Cena®, Batista®, Big Show®, Rey Mysterio®, Mark Henry™ and WWE Divas Kelly Kelly® and Eve™ were also on hand for the announcement.
“Atlanta has a long-standing reputation of hosting the highest level of sports and entertainment events and adding WrestleMania XXVII to the list is a major coup for our great city,” said The Honorable Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta. “We’ve built our reputation on over-delivering for such prestigious events like the Olympics, Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours and All Star Games. WrestleMania will further showcase Atlanta as one of the leading sports and entertainment capitals of the world and will bring substantial economic impact to Atlanta and the state of Georgia.”
“We are thrilled to bring the biggest sports entertainment event in the world for the first time to the city of Atlanta in 2011. The enthusiasm of the sellout crowd at last night’s Royal Rumble® was just a small sample of what to expect when WrestleMania XXVII takes over Atlanta,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman and CEO. “We look forward to focusing the eyes of the world onto the great city of Atlanta and making history at the Georgia Dome.”
Visitors from around the world are expected to converge on Atlanta and participate in a week-long series of events that will culminate with the annual pop culture extravaganza, WrestleMania XXVII. Among the activities will be the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, WrestleMania Axxess, WrestleMania Art auction and a Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament. The pay-per-view event will be televised to more than 100 countries. Last year’s 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania and the events surrounding it pumped nearly $50 million into the local Houston economy, as 72,744 fans converged on Reliant Stadium for the event.
The Georgia Dome is no stranger to hosting major sports events such as Super Bowl XXXIV and XXVIII, NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four, the SEC Football Championship and Chick-fil-A Bowl, along with major entertainment events such as U2, Rolling Stones and NSYNC.