San Diego’s hotel tourism fund is contributing $650,000 for Survivor Series 2025, and records point to another $4.3 million for WWE’s stadium show at the Padres' stadium.
wrestlenomics.com
The San Diego Tourism Marketing District (SDTMD)—an agency funded by a 2% assessment fee on local hotel stays—approved $650,000 in June to help bring WWE’s Survivor Series to Petco Park. But records show the event is backed by a $5 million budget, as WWE increasingly seeks big payments from host cities for bringing its major events to town.
Documents reviewed by Wrestlenomics, obtained through public records requests to the city and shared with us by SDTMD, show that the San Diego Padres submitted a budget for the WWE event that includes $4.25 million in additional expenses, on top of the $650,000 from the SDTMD to cover the bid fee. Records repeatedly refer to a total budget of $5 million.
The figure wasn’t additionally confirmed by representatives for WWE, the Padres, or the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA). Questions for this story sent to those organizations, including about which organization was providing the non-SDTMD funding, weren’t answered. SDTMD referred our request for clarification about non-SDTMD funding to the Padres.
The SDTA is a separate organization from the SDTMD, though the SDTA gets most of its funding from the SDTMD. The SDTA appears to have been instrumental in negotiations with WWE.
The Padres’ application to SDTMD was submitted by Jaclyn Lash, the team’s senior vice president of special events. The request outlines a $5 million total budget and asks for $650,000 in support to help secure the event. A related spreadsheet shows $4.9 million in itemized costs, including line items for “entertainment” and “special event production.” SDTMD’s fiscal year 2026 report confirms the Padres’ involvement with the Survivor Series and notes $4.35 million in non-SDTMD contributions toward the event. It’s not unusual for the hosting organization in such arrangements to cover or reimburse expenses for the company—WWE in this case—that’s putting on the event.
Executives at WWE and its parent company, TKO, have frequently cited site fees and local incentives as a growing part of the company’s business strategy. If the full $5 million in support is realized, Survivor Series 2025 would be among WWE’s most lucrative known host city deals, putting it on par with this year’s WrestleMania, before that event got an additional $4.3 million in tax credits.
In a September 2024 email obtained through a public records request, Kavin Schieferdecker, chief sales officer of the SDTA, said the organization was “in the final negotiation stages” with WWE at the time. Schieferdecker noted in an email to us on Monday that the Padres and Petco Park worked to bring Survivor Series to San Diego.
The event was formally announced by WWE in April. Survivor Series will take place at Petco Park on Nov. 29, 2025. It’s the first time the annual event will be held in a stadium.
WWE events on surrounding dates haven’t been announced, but records allude to Friday Night SmackDown, which often takes place in an arena in the same city on the Friday before major WWE premium live events. The local organizations and WWE didn’t respond to questions about whether SmackDown is planned for Nov. 28, 2025, in Pechanga Arena, where WWE held a Monday Night Raw event earlier this year.
The SDTMD estimates that Survivor Series will generate 18,000 hotel room nights and return $3.6 million in revenue to city lodging businesses.
What, if any, financial agreement exists between WWE and the Padres or WWE and the SDTA is unclear. Still, if WWE receives the full $5 million, the San Diego deal would rival incentives seen for some of the company’s largest events.
In its request, the Padres highlighted WWE’s claimed impact from other host cities, including a $25.1 million economic boost for Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales, and $214.6 million for WrestleMania in 2023 in Los Angeles. The document cites “about 80,000 fans in attendance each night,” for WrestleMania two years ago in L.A., reflecting WWE’s announced attendances. WrestleTix estimated the two-day event distributed just over 67,000 tickets each night.
The Padres’ application also noted hotel revenue impacts of other major WWE events: $6.6 million in San Antonio during Royal Rumble 2023 and $7.3 million in Las Vegas during Summerslam 2021.
At $650,000, SDTMD’s contribution to Survivor Series is among its larger funding allocations for fiscal year 2026. The projected ROI of 5.5 to 1 is considerably below the agency’s average of 14.9 to 1 for the other events listed for the year.
We asked whether lower ROI for Survivor Series was offset by the promotional value of national or global television exposure. The Survivor Series will be streaming globally on Peacock and Netflix. Does an event’s highly-viewed broadcast bring meaningful marketing value to a host city like San Diego? SDTMD Executive Director Colleen Anderson said broadcast reach is a secondary factor for the organization.
“Global media coverage that specifically showcases the City of San Diego as a desirable destination is a consideration but not a determiner,” she said in an emailed statement. “Hotel room night revenue during slower periods in hotel occupancy is the primary consideration when awarding grants.”
Regarding the WWE audience, she said, “The audience’s likelihood or propensity to travel and stay overnight during a slower period in San Diego while participating in this historic event is of greatest interest.”
The SDTMD plans to publish an annual report that includes post-event metrics for room nights, hotel revenue, and ROI. That report, Anderson said, is typically released in January, covering the prior fiscal year ending in June.
