WWE Officially Announces Next ThunderDome Home
The WWE ThunderDome is headed to the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
WWE officially announced today that their new ThunderDome residency at the Yuengling Center will begin with the post-WrestleMania 37 edition of RAW on the USA Network, on Monday, April 12.
"WWE takes great pride in providing our fans and network partners with cutting-edge production and one of the most interactive atmospheres in all of television every single week," said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer & Chief, Global Television Production. "We look forward to the next iteration of the WWE ThunderDome at Yuengling Center as we continue to take the fan experience to a whole new level."
It was noted that more than 650,000 fans have registered for WWE ThunderDome crowds since last August.
WWE confirmed that they will continue to run closed-set tapings at the Yuengling Center, with COVID-19 protocols in place for talent, crew and employees.
There is no word yet on how long the Yuengling Center residency will run for. WWE's first ThunderDome residency was at the Amway Center in Orlando, which began last August. They then moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on December 11. The Yuengling Center will be the third ThunderDome venue of the COVID-19 era.
The Yuengling Center sits on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, and was once known as the University of South Florida Sun Dome. The venue has a capacity of 10,411 when there are no COVID-19 protocols in place. The University of South Florida currently has three teams that call the Yuengling Center home – the South Florida Bulls men's basketball team, the South Florida Bulls women's basketball team, and the South Florida Bulls women's volleyball team. The teams are not currently playing due to the pandemic, so games will not be a problem for WWE.
WWE ran the Yuengling Center many years ago before there were bigger options in the area. The 1995 Royal Rumble pay-per-view was held in the arena, along with Saturday Night's Main Event in December 1985 and SNME in December 1988. WWE would have a short move from Tropicana Field to the Yuengling Center as the drive is around 30 minutes. It's been reported that WWE wanted to keep the ThunderDome in or near the Tampa area.
WWE will wrap their residency at Tropicana Field with upcoming tapings going into WrestleMania 37 Week. You can click here for details on their final events at Tropicana Field.
Stay tuned for more on WWE ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center. Below is the full announcement from WWE issued to us today:
WWE® THUNDERDOME™ TAKES OVER YUENGLING CENTER
STAMFORD, Conn., March 24, 2021 –WWE® (NYSE: WWE) will bring its world-class viewing experience, WWE ThunderDome, to Yuengling Center as it remains in Tampa with a new residency starting with Monday Night Raw® on April 12 at 8 pm ET on USA Network.
The move to Yuengling Center continues WWE's longstanding relationship with the state of Florida and marks the next phase of WWE ThunderDome, which launched to critical acclaim last August at Amway Center in Orlando and has continued over the past four months at Tropicana Field in Tampa. Yuengling Center sits on the campus of one of Florida's largest universities, the University of South Florida.
Featuring a state-of-the-art set, video boards, pyrotechnics, lasers, cutting-edge graphics and drone cameras, WWE ThunderDome provides an immersive viewing atmosphere and virtually brings thousands of fans into the arena via live video, in conjunction with The Famous Group and its proprietary technology, for every Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown® and WWE pay-per-view event. WWE ThunderDome received top honors at last year's Sportel Awards for Best Virtual Fan Experience.
"WWE has always been a highlight of our event mix and bringing this world-class residency to Yuengling Center only strengthens our relationship," said Kevin Preast, Executive Vice President of Event Management at Vinik Sports Group. "Hosting WWE ThunderDome is another step towards a full return of hosting more events in the area."
"WWE takes great pride in providing our fans and network partners with cutting-edge production and one of the most interactive atmospheres in all of television every single week," said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer & Chief, Global Television Production. "We look forward to the next iteration of the WWE ThunderDome at Yuengling Center as we continue to take the fan experience to a whole new level."
To date, more than 650,000 fans from around the world have registered to be part of WWE ThunderDome. Fans can register for their virtual seat to be part of upcoming WWE shows via www.WWEThunderDome.com or at WWE's Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages.
Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-view programming will be produced at Yuengling Center on closed sets with only essential personnel in attendance. WWE will continue to administer its health and safety protocols for talent, crew and employees in conjunction with each production, including PCR testing for COVID-19, social distancing and wearing masks.