WrestleMania is coming to the Bay Area.
World Wrestling Entertainment has selected Levi’s Stadium to host WrestleMania 31 in the spring of 2015, NBC Bay Area confirmed Sunday. It’s the second high-profile event the new stadium in Santa Clara has landed, coming on the heels of May's announcement that it will host Super Bowl L in 2016.
Several high-profile WWE wrestlers, including John Cena, were seen at Candlestick Park on Sunday in anticipation of Tuesday's official press conference announcement.
WWE officials visited 49ers headquarters in early August, where they were pitched by 49ers CEO Jed York and city leaders on the not-yet-finished $1.3 billion stadium. A few weeks later, Santa Clara mayor Jamie Matthews and 49ers executives traveled to WWE headquarters in Connecticut to meet with chairman Vince McMahon.
Ultimately, Levi’s Stadium was chosen over Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
It is the first time the event -- held annually since 1985 -- will take place in Northern California and includes a week of smaller events leading up to it. It is expected to make a significant impact on the area's economy.
PHOTOS: Levi's Stadium Gets Its Scoreboard
The 2012 event at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium pumped an estimated $102.7 million into the South Florida economy, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. The study also reported 71 percent of the fans that attended came from outside the area and stayed for an average of four nights. Those fans spent $6.9 million at area restaurants and the impact was equivalent to the creation of 1,020 full-time jobs.
Dallas will host the following WrestleMania in 2016, a source confirmed.
Levi’s Stadium is also bidding to host college football’s national championship in 2017.
