As the 2025 college football season approaches, the Big 12 is expanding its partnership with WWE.
In a release on Wednesday, the conference and pro wrestling giant announced a fall tour that will bring WWE SmackDown to Big 12 campuses in conjunction with some of the league’s biggest games during the 2025 season. News of the tour was first reported by The Athletic’s Chris Vannini in May.
Before hitting the campuses, the tour will kickoff at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday, Aug. 22 — one night ahead of the Week 0 matchup between Iowa State and Kansas State, which will take place at Aviva Stadium. The tour will pick back up with an episode of SmackDown at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati on Oct. 3, with the Bearcats set to host Iowa State the following day.
The entirety of the tour schedule is as follows:
- Friday, August 22 – SmackDown at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland (Iowa State vs. Kansas State on Saturday, August 23)
- Friday, October 3 – SmackDown at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio (Iowa State at Cincinnati on Saturday, October 4)
- Friday, October 24 – SmackDown at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona (Houston at Arizona State on Saturday, October 25)
- Friday, October 31 – SmackDown at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah (Cincinnati at Utah on Saturday, November 1)
The four-stop tour marks the latest expansion of the partnership between WWE and the Big 12, which first began in 2023. The partnership has seen WWE have an outsized presence at the conference’s annual Big 12 Championship game, including on-field branding, the attendance of WWE superstars and a custom championship belt that has been presented to the title game’s MVP.
With SmackDown taking place on Friday nights, pairing the weekly show with some of the conference’s regular-season matchups makes for a natural extension. And it could also provide a potential footprint for other WWE partnerships in the world of sports in the future.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.