WWE already locked in February 6 for the 2027 Royal Rumble, but apparently that wasn’t always the date being discussed behind the scenes. The company considered pushing one of its biggest shows of the year back by two weeks, and there was a pretty big promotional opportunity behind the idea.
According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, WWE held internal discussions about potentially moving the 2027 Royal Rumble to February 20. The idea was tied to the Super Bowl and the massive amount of ESPN exposure WWE believed it could potentially get around the game.
“WrestleVotes on Fightful Select has been told that internal discussions within WWE took place about the possibility of hosting the 2027 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event two weeks later on February 20th.”
The thinking was that ESPN will broadcast the Super Bowl for the first time in 2027, creating a huge promotional window throughout the week leading into the game. WWE believed ESPN could use that coverage to promote upcoming programming, potentially putting the Royal Rumble in front of a much larger audience ahead of an event the following weekend.
“Per a source, that idea centered around the opportunity to get a tremendous amount of exposure for the Royal Rumble during Super Bowl weekend, which is being broadcast on ESPN for the first time.”
WrestleVotes noted that WWE saw the entire week surrounding the Super Bowl as a potential promotional goldmine. With ESPN naturally pushing its upcoming programming during such a massive event, the Royal Rumble could theoretically have benefited from being next in line.
“The thinking internally was that throughout the week on the lead up to the game, as well as during the game-day coverage itself, ESPN would theoretically be promoting more of its upcoming programming, which would include WWE’s Royal Rumble the following weekend.”
However, WWE ultimately decided the extra exposure wasn’t worth everything that would have to move around with it. Pushing the Royal Rumble back two weeks would have forced the company to make several changes to its existing calendar structure.
“However, WWE decided against that for two primary reasons: First, while the potential advertising exposure was viewed as significant, pushing the event back two weeks would have forced many changes to the company’s calendar structure.”
There was also another pretty massive problem with February 20. The Phoenix area is already set to host NBA All-Star Weekend from February 19 through February 21, meaning WWE would have been bringing the Royal Rumble into town during another major sporting event.
“Secondly, Phoenix, Arizona, which is hosting the 2027 Royal Rumble, is already scheduled to host the 2027 NBA All-Star Weekend from February 19th through the 21st. So WWE stuck with February 6th.”
That combination apparently killed the idea, and WWE ultimately stuck with February 6. The company officially announced on November 2 that the 40th annual Royal Rumble will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The interesting part here isn’t that WWE changed the Royal Rumble date — because it didn’t — but how seriously the company apparently considered building its schedule around a huge ESPN promotional window. February 20 may have created more headaches than it solved, but the fact that WWE explored it shows just how much value the company sees in getting its biggest events plugged alongside major mainstream sports coverage.
Do you think WWE should have moved the Royal Rumble to February 20 for the potential Super Bowl exposure, or was sticking with February 6 the smarter call? Let us know what you think in the comments.
