Why AEW Is Holding Their Rally Near WWE SmackDown, Possible Location For AEW Double Or Nothing
As noted, the new All Elite Wrestling promotion has announced a "Double Or Nothing" rally for Tuesday in Jacksonville, Florida at the TIAA Bank Field. The rally will run just a few hours before WWE airs a live SmackDown from the nearby Jacksonville Memorial Arena in the same city.
The AEW rally being held in Jacksonville on the same night as WWE SmackDown is 100% a coincidence, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio. Apparently this is the earliest AEW could book the rally with everyone being in Japan right now for the Wrestle Kingdom 13 event. The rally was to always be held in Jacksonville, because that is where AEW is based, but the date is a coincidence. TIAA Bank Field is where the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars play their home games and AEW's main backer is Tony Khan, a co-owner of the Jaguars. It's been reported that Khan will be the President of AEW, but the promotion hasn't made that official.
Regarding AEW's first big event, Double Or Nothing is expected to take place in Las Vegas this April. The T-Mobile Arena and the MGM Grand Garden Arena are potential locations. The 2019 NHL Stanley Cup finals begin in April and could prevent the AEW event from being held at the T-Mobile Arena, indicating that the show could take place later in April. AEW likely will not run the Orleans Arena because they're looking for something bigger.
AEW Double Or Nothing is expected to out-draw the All In event from September 2018, which drew just over 11,200 fans from the Sears Centre near Chicago. The T-Mobile Arena is usually set up for 20,000 seats at boxing & MMA events. WWE drew just over 15,000 to the arena for the 2018 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and just over 14,000 fans to the arena for the 2016 Money In the Bank pay-per-view.