The city of Orlando wants to host the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble, and is preparing a sizable bid to throw its hat in the ring.
Orlando’s NBC station, WESH, reported today that the city’s Tourist Development Tax Sports Incentive Committee “will request $850,000 for the Greater Orlando Sports Commission to bid on the 2024 Royal Rumble.” It noted that if the bid is accepted, the event will be held Jan. 27, 2024, though that date hasn’t been confirmed by WWE and likely won’t until a venue is announced.
The proposed site for Royal Rumble is Camping World Stadium. Formerly known as the Florida Citrus Bowl, the football stadium can seat more than 60,000 fans. It also has an established WWE history, hosting both WrestleMania XXIV in 2008 and WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
It’s yet to be the site for a Royal Rumble, but that’s largely due to the fact that the event has a much short history as a stadium show than WrestleMania. As recently as 2018, the Royal Rumble was held at a basketball/hockey arena, but with the exception of the 2021 edition affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s taken place at larger, football or multi-purpose stadiums since then.
Orlando is also one of the few places WWE visits regularly that could host an outdoor Royal Rumble in late January. The city’s bid will estimate attendance at 54,000 fans, which is slightly higher than WWE’s reported attendance (which always needs to be taken with a grain of salt), but if the venue can hit that mark, it will likely set an all-time gate record for any Royal Rumble.
The location for this year’s event was announced in early September 2022, so it’s likely Orlando won’t know until after the summer whether it’s bid will be successful.