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After missing out on WrestleMania, Philly hoping to host key WWE events

The news of New Orleans landing WrestleMania in 2018 was music to some fans' ears, but not so much to the ones in Philadelphia, as it meant the city was passed over once again for WWE's marquee event.

Despite losing out on WrestleMania, Larry Needle, executive director of PHL Sports, formerly the Philadelphia Sports Congress, said in a statement Tuesday that he was confident the city will host major WWE events.

"Philadelphia is proud of our longstanding partnership with WWE over the years," he said. "Bidding for WrestleMania was extremely competitive, but we are very confident that we'll have many more premier WWE events in Philadelphia in the near future. We're also looking forward to hosting one of the country's biggest sporting events this spring, the NFL Draft, and welcoming another fantastic slate of events throughout 2017 and beyond."

Landing WrestleMania would have been a huge coup for the city, as it has grown into much more than just the biggest event in professional wrestling. It has morphed into a weeklong celebration of sorts that includes of slew of ancillary events, which have produced nearly $1 billion in economic impact for host cities over the past decade.

WrestleMania generated $142.2 million for New Orleans in 2014 and $170.4 million for Dallas/Arlington, Texas in 2016, marking the fifth consecutive year the event generated more than $100 million for the host city.

The last time Philadelphia hosted WrestleMania was back in 1999 at what was then the First Union Center. The event drew 19,514 fans.

If the city were to host WrestleMania again, it would be held at Lincoln Financial Field.