By now, most people know that prime-time wrestling is scripted, but that doesn’t stop there World Wrestling Entertainment — commonly known as the WWE — from pursuing the option of allowing people legal bet in its battles.
CNBC reports that WWE is in talks with state gambling regulators in Colorado and Michigan to legalize betting on high-profile matchescatches many completely off guard.
Sources who spoke to the site said that WWE is working with accounting firm Ernst & Young to secure scripted match results “in the hope that this will convince regulators that there is no chance of the results becoming public.”
sports betting worldwide has grown into a massive and highly profitable business in recent years, but this latest news is more high-brow than Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, given WWE’s transparent status as sports entertainment.
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As it stands, wrestlers usually know the outcome of their matches before filming, but Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said that need to change if legalized betting is approved.
“Once they tell people and it gets out, or even if it doesn’t get out, they’re going to have people investigating them, and they’re in a incredible amount of trouble for gaming violations and things like that,” explained Meltzer. “That’s nothing to worry about. They literally can’t do that. So the talent will not know their finishes, at least in the matches that are gambled.”
Meltzer also noted that WWE often relies on its writers and wrestlers to create and dramatize storylines. around the outcomes of the matches, which often opens weeks before a scheduled event. This can prove difficult and change the way the business is run, if they can’t plan a storyline because they don’t know the outcome of a match.
“If Roman Reigns goes to that pay-per-view against Sami Zayn, and he doesn’t know if he’s going to win or lose until the last minute, how is everybody (doing) the storylines for the week before and the week after and where are they going?” Meltzer said.
Historically, Ernst & Young has worked with awards shows like the Emmys and Academy Awards to keep results secret and allow legal betting in some states, and sources told CNBC that WWE executives have used Oscars betting as a template to convince regulators that gambling on scripted or predetermined events can be done safely.
Sports betting site Action Network says there are “a lot” of people inside WWE generally know the results of a match in advance, including top executives, key members of creative teams and often broadcast teams.
“And that’s all we have a high degree of confidence in saying the results are known in advance. there is no doubt others,” the site notes.
However, the site also noted that WWE is likely pursuing Michigan and Colorado as legal betting partners because the gaming control boards in those states “tend to be looser with their rules” and currently allows betting on events such as the Oscars.
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