WWE Lifting Controversial Policy Just in Time for WrestleMania 42

Watch parties are back on in Las Vegas.

WrestleMania 42 will emanate from Allegiant Stadium in just five weeks' time, and surrounding businesses received some very good news on Friday.

WWE and Joe Hand Promotions had recently instituted a controversial blackout policy for major Premium Live Events, which blocked any watch parties from taking place within 50 miles of the host venue.

The goal of the policy was to help boost ticket sales, especially for the 'Showcase of the Immortals', which had fallen way behind the pace at which they were sold for WrestleMania 41 last year.

Blackouts were in place for a number of venues near the United Center in Chicago during Elimination Chamber, but Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is reporting that will not be the case for WrestleMania 42 in Sin City.

"Late in the week, Fightful was told there was positive momentum on watch parties being allowed in Vegas," Ross Sapp wrote in his report.

WWE has now lifted the watch party blackout around Allegiant Stadium

"On Friday, Circa Las Vegas' Stadium Swim revealed that the ban had been lifted, giving way to the watch parties for locations that license the PLE through Joe Hand Promotions. As recently as a week before some venues had spoken to WWE and believed WWE would stand firm," Ross Sapp said.

Ross Sapp also said that several casinos, hotels, and other tourist areas had increasingly expressed their frustrations over the ban in recent weeks, as had a number of city leaders.

"One that spoke to us on the condition of anonymity said that when the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors committed to a site fee for WrestleMania, it was to generate economic impact for the entire city, as opposed to just WWE and Allegiant Stadium."

We are SAT for @Jade_Cargill vs. @RheaRipley_WWE at WrestleMania 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/0SQC4iQdcd
— WWE (@WWE) March 14, 2026

Blackout policies used to be far more common in professional sports, although they were never popular amongst the fans, for obvious reasons.

The NFL had its own policy in place for decades that required games to be sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff in order to air on broadcast television in local markets. Growing up a Cincinnati Bengals fan in the 1990's, I can tell you that it was very rare for Queen City fans to be able to watch all eight home games during a season. League owners ultimately voted to terminate their blackout rule in March 2015.

As the 2026 season is set to get underway in just a couple of weeks, Major League Baseball still has blackout rules in place. Unless the league is the distributor of the team's broadcasts, local viewers are restricted from watching their home club’s games on MLB.TV as a way to protect regional sports network partnerships.