Report: Philadelphia officials met with WWE in New Orleans about hosting future WrestleMania; city officials deny meeting

UPDATE 7:30 p.m.: A source from within the Philadelphia Sports Congress denied that a meeting ever took place between the city and WWE officials last weekend in New Orleans.

From earlier: Officials from Philadelphia were in New Orleans during WrestleMania weekend meeting with WWE officials about hosting a future WrestleMania, according to a report from the SB Nation blog Cageside Seats.

Among the other cities that reportedly met with WWE during the weekend were Indianapolis, Ind., Toronto and Columbus, Ohio.

Philadelphia was in the running to host WrestleMania 31 in 2015, but could never place an official bid due to a scheduling conflict with facilities for the ancillary events that surround WrestleMania.

The ideal venue to host WrestleMania itself would be Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Eagles. That would be more than likely be available during the first weekend in April when WrestleMania typically takes place.

The problem is that WWE would also need the Pennsylvania Convention Center for WrestleMania Axxess and the Wells Fargo Center for Raw the night after WrestleMania and potentially the Hall of Fame ceremony the night before.

As a result, WrestleMania 31 went to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the future home of the San Francisco 49ers.

Indianapolis would more than likely want to hold the event in Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. For Toronto, the venue of choice would be the Rogers Center, which has hosted WrestleMania on two occasions (1990 and 2002).

Columbus would be different as it is a college town, but could host the event at Ohio Stadium, which could seat more than 100,000 for Ohio State football games.