How WWE’s Fox Deal Is Likely To Change Future WrestleMania Scheduling

WWE’s new contract with Fox Sports will see SmackDown Live move to Fridays as part of the $1 billion deal starting in October 2019. We will already see a big change to next year’s WrestleMania Weekend festivities as WWE is swapping TakeOver and the Hall Of Fame event, but that might only be the beginning of the changes to come.
WWE will be running with split-production teams starting in 2019 when the new Fox Sports deal comes into effect. This will allow WWE to put on the shows they need to as well as focus on filming live events for the WWE Network.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that WWE changing up WrestleMania plans this year to swap the WWE Hall Of Fame and NXT TakeOver: New York events will only be a one-off situation due to the new Fox deal which will see SmackDown airing on Fridays.
In 2020, it is noted that things are likely to change again so the NXT TakeOver event or WWE Hall Of Fame show would be held on the Thursday prior to WrestleMania. Needless to say, that could really hurt indie promotions who run shows on the Thursday before Mania.
There are probably going to be many more changes coming to WWE as part of the new deal with Fox Sports, but WrestleMania Weekend is likely to see a new schedule because the blue brand’s show will be taking place a four days earlier.