While South Florida gears up to host its 10th NFL Super Bowl, the Miami-Dade Sports Commission awaits the results on a bid for another mega event: World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania.

Miami-Dade County is among 15 to 20 cities in the running for WWE's WrestleMania 27 in 2011 or WrestleMania 28 in 2012.

``Our focus is 2011,'' said Mike Sophia, executive director of the sports commission. ``Hopefully, it will happen.''

It would be the first WrestleMania in South Florida.

``We will be so successful that WWE will want to return to Miami for more WrestleManias because we want them here, and we want them to come back,'' Sophia said.

Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto and Orlando have hosted the extravaganza.

According to a study performed by Enigma Research Corp. of Toronto, WrestleMania 24 pumped $50 million into the Orlando economy in 2008. It also set the Citrus Bowl attendance record with 74,635 fans from 50 states, five Canadian provinces and 21 countries -- generating more than $5.85 million in ticket sales.

WWE's John Saboor and Dennis Sullivan visited Miami for two days in mid-August, canvassing area facilities and hotels. Saboor, former president of the Central Florida Sports Commission who played a pivotal role in persuading WWE to bring WrestleMania 24 to Orlando, became WWE's senior vice president for special events a few months later.

Sophia along with Jose ``Pepe'' Diaz, sports commission chairman and a Miami-Dade County commissioner; Jarred Diamond, vice president of booking and assistant general manager with AmericanAirlines Arena, and William D. Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and a sports commission board member, helped welcome Saboor and Sullivan.

The site check went well.

WWE considered 15 to 20 cities. About half or fewer were invited to Stamford, Conn., WWE's headquarters, to make their best pitch. The South Florida contingent went last week.

``WrestleMania is a perfect fit for us,'' Diaz said. ``It's world recognition. It's a very powerful event, the super bowl of wrestling/sports entertainment.''

WWE, the publicly traded, multimillion-dollar empire led by Chairman Vince McMahon and the McMahon family, features WrestleMania annually in March or April.

Miami's contingent had 30 minutes to state its case.

``We fancy ourselves as good branders,'' Talbert said, ``but those people are some of the top brand specialists in the world. Everyone is on the same page, and when I talked to some of their senior managers, they've been there for a while and that's always a good sign in a company.''

Thomas Estes, 25, of Pembroke Pines, attended WrestleMania in 2008 in Orlando and 2009 in Houston.

``I'm excited that it might be in Miami,'' he said. ``For me, since I live here, it would save me a ton of money on hotels, airports and rent-a-cars.''

He added: ``It's such a big event, and everyone, so many people, they are into everything surrounding it, too -- the Fan Axxess, the Hall of Fame, other events.''

Miami's proposal includes holding WrestleMania on a Sunday night at Land Shark Stadium, seating an estimated 75,000; a WWE Hall of Fame ceremony the night before; Monday Night Raw at the AmericanAirlines Arena, and the WrestleMania Fan Axxess, a multi-day fan fest, at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

``This will be the first event in Miami history to use Land Shark Stadium and the AmericanAirlines Arena and also the Miami Beach Convention Center,'' Talbert said.

That alone tells you the economic impact for Miami will be huge.''

WrestleMania is televised via pay-per-view to more than 100 countries.

In 2009, WWE WrestleMania 25 on April 5 from Houston had 960,000 pay-per-view buys. ``It is a major pay-per-view,'' Talbert said. ``This is big, big, big and big.''

The 26th WrestleMania is March 28, 2010, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Diaz said: ``Now, we're sitting and waiting [to hear about 2011 and 2012]. We don't exactly know how many cities or which cities are finalists. I think we're one of two, maybe. We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping were in.''

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