WWE announced on Monday that the 40th Royal Rumble will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2027, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
But WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select reported that there were internal discussions in WWE about moving the show to February 20, two weeks later, to take advantage of Super Bowl LXI weekend. It will be the first Super Bowl to air on ESPN.
“There were discussions within WWE about the possibility of hosting the Royal Rumble two weeks later, on February 20,” the report said. “The idea was to get exposure during Super Bowl weekend, which is being broadcast on ESPN for the first time.”
WWE wanted ESPN to promote the Royal Rumble all week ahead of the Super Bowl on February 14 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and during its coverage that day. That means the show would have taken place just six days after the Super Bowl instead of eight days before it, which is where it ended up.
But WrestleVotes noted that the company would have had to make several changes to its schedule, so the move was dropped. The Phoenix area is set to host NBA All-Star Weekend from February 19 to 21. That’s the same weekend.
Even without the move, the 2027 Royal Rumble will take place later in the year than any other Royal Rumble in history. So far, the only Rumble that didn’t take place in January has been the 2025 show on February 1 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
ESPN took over the U.S. media rights to WWE’s PLEs in September 2025, starting with Wrestlepalooza, and the 2027 Royal Rumble will be exclusive to ESPN Unlimited.