WWE moves shows to Orlando arena

STAMFORD — WWE announced Monday that it would relocate its flagship shows within Orlando, Fla., from its performance center to Amway Center, as it also unveiled new technology for staging those events.

The residency at the downtown arena is scheduled to start Friday with the next episode of SmackDown, followed Sunday by one of its top annual gatherings, SummerSlam, and the latest episode of Raw next Monday.

Those programs will be held behind closed doors, as WWE has done since mid-March when it moved production from fanfilled arenas to its training facility in Orlando in response to the spread of coronavirus.

Stamford-based WWE said it would virtually connect fans to the arena through its new ThunderDome platform, which would feature live video on “massive” LED boards, pyrotechnics, lasers, graphics and drone cameras. It is partnering on the initiative with The Famous Group, a fan-experience company based in Culver City, Calif.

“WWE has a long history of producing the greatest live spectacles in sports and entertainment, yet nothing compares to what we are creating with WWE ThunderDome,” Kevin Dunn, WWE’s executive vice president of television production, said in a statement. “This structure will enable us to deliver an immersive atmosphere and generate more excitement amongst the millions of fans watching our programming around the world.”

Starting Monday night, fans can register for virtual seats through www.WWEThunderDome.com or WWE’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages, the company said. Those online fans would be shown on the arena’s LED screens during shows.

“The only reason why anyone would care about a facility change is if it allows the WWE to heighten fan engagement. And the Amway Center can do just that, while also providing the ability to greatly enhance the production value for television,” said Josh Shuart, director of sports management at Sacred Heart University's Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. “They are taking the best of what seems to have worked with relaunched professional leagues — such as the NBA’s virtual fans and MLB’s arena audio — and raising the bar from there.”

Also Monday, WWE announced upcoming shows for its NXT rising stars would be held at the Full Sail University campus in Winter Park, Fla., a venue where NXT programming has been filmed numerous times since March.

The relocation to Amway Center, which is also the home of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, does not appear to signal an imminent return of fans to its shows. WWE said its stay at Amway

Center “will continue for the foreseeable future” and Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-view programming such as SummerSlam will be produced on closed sets with only “essential personnel” in attendance.

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Florida, WWE briefly suspended production in June at its training center after at least one of its performers tested positive for COVID-19.

Florida’s three-day moving average of confirmed new cases peaked at about 12,800 on July 12 and had dropped to about 5,400 on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

WWE said it would continue to administer health and safety protocols for performers and production staff, measures that include testing for COVID-19, social distancing measures and the wearing of masks.