WWE Reportedly Blocking Local Venues From Hosting Elimination Chamber Watch Parties

Amidst reports of WrestleMania 42 tickets not selling well, it was revealed that WWE would be blocking watch parties in Las Vegas. Venues are reportedly being told by the distributor that they will be unable to broadcast the two-night event, even if they paid a licensing fee. 

The blackout will reportedly be in effect for bars, restaurants, hotels, and other venues within a 50 mile radius of the event. Dave Meltzer revealed on "Wrestling Observer Radio" on Monday, days ahead of the next WWE premium live event, that the same blackout will be happening around Elimination Chamber. 

"The thing about doing the blocking out in Vegas, they're doing that in Chicago, too," Meltzer said. "...it's not like the product isn't hot enough to sell out. It's the ticket prices. People are bawking at the ticket prices... They're still selling a lot of tickets for their shows, but they're not selling out. They should probably dial down the prices a little bit, but that's kind of one of those things that you hate to do."

Two weeks ago, WWE reportedly called a meeting involving multiple departments to put a plan in action to increase ticket sales for WrestleMania 42. It was announced in the following days by Allegiant Stadium that tickets were on sale at 25 percent off for President's Day weekend. Despite the sale, WrestleMania is reportedly still down over 17,000 tickets sold compared to last year.

As of this writing, there are still tickets available for Saturday's Elimination Chamber. According to Ticketmaster, the lowest priced seat is available for $261, with the highest reaching over $5,000 in the first row, ringside.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.