State Of New Jersey Reportedly Using Pandemic Funds To Pay For WWE SummerSlam 2025

Nearly two weeks ago, WWE and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority announced that WWE would be returning to MetLife Stadium next summer, with the site of WrestleMania's 29 and 35 hosting the first ever two night edition of SummerSlam. As one would expect, the price to lure SummerSlam to New Jersey didn't come cheap, evidently involving the NJSEA using an interesting form of funding.

POST Wrestling, citing The Bergen Record, reports that the NJSEA approved $7.125 million to assist MetLife Stadium in their SummerSlam bid. As to where that $7.125 million came from, it appears the NJSEA took it from the American Rescue Plan, a COVID-19 stimulus package that the state received during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

This would not be the first time the NJSEA has used money from the American Rescue Plan to help fund a sporting event. In 2023, the agency had used $3.5 million from the fund to secure Newark's Prudential Center as the host for UFC 288 in May. The combined $10.625 million figure to lure WWE and UFC would still be a relative drop in the bucket to the American Rescue Plan, which provided New Jersey with $6.24 billion in relief funding. The money must be allocated by the end of 2025, and spent by the end of 2026.

The NJSEA is expecting to get a significant return on the relief money spent, with estimates suggesting the two-night SummerSlam will rake in over $80 million in "total economic impact." The deal isn't entirely done, however, as NJSEA spokesman Brian Aberback has stated the funding application is being finalized with the state's Department of Community Affairs, while State Senator Paul Sarlo has filed a request with the governor's office to find out how much relief money remains.