WWE Exec Says Wrestling Organization No Longer Pursuing Sports Betting Inclusion

Posted on: November 11, 2024, 12:28h. 

Last updated on: November 11, 2024, 01:12h.

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A top official at WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) says the professional wrestling organization is no longer pursuing to have its events included on legal sports betting boards.

WWE sports betting UFC TKO
WWE is no longer considering sports betting on its scripted fights. Last year, rumors had emerged that the pro wrestling league was trying to win over state gaming regulators for its matches to qualify for betting inclusion. (Image: WWE)

Last year, reports surfaced that WWE reps had hired a slew of lobbyists who were petitioning state lawmakers and gaming regulators to allow pro wrestling matches to be bet on. Currently, no legal sports gambling state allows oddsmakers to offer lines on WWE events.

The exclusion of WWE is primarily because the matches are scripted and, therefore, could easily lead to insiders with knowledge of the outcomes tipping off bettors.

Mark Shapiro, the chief operating officer of TKO Group Holdings, the parent entity to both the WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), told CNBC last week that betting inclusion is no longer a priority for the company’s WWE division. 

Betting to Remain Outside the Ropes

Shapiro sat down with CNBC’s Alex Sherman, who covers media and sports for the business network, to discuss an array of issues, with one being whether the WWE remains interested in entering the legal sports gambling space. Shapiro didn’t mince words in strongly rejecting those 2023 rumors.

Not happening,” Shapiro said. “We’re scripted.”

Shapiro explained that when he ran Dick Clark Productions, which produced the American Music Awards and Golden Globes, that even then it was tough keeping the winners a secret before the live telecasts.

We’re not going to be asking Triple H, Paul Levesque, who runs our creative, to keep his scripts so under wrap that we can start sports betting,” Shapiro continued. “It just doesn’t jive.”

TKO was formed last year after the WWE and UFC merged to create a company with a market valuation of more than $21 billion. While WWE will remain outside of the sports betting industry, TKO’s UFC is a major player in the space.

“We are doing it [sports betting] with the UFC and it’s really growing. It [UFC] really lends itself to sports betting. Think about the long card, multiple fights, multiple rounds, submissions, grappling, the way someone’s taken down, the way somebody’s knocked out. There are so many props you can bet on,” Shapiro reasoned.

Shapiro added that young men represent the largest demographic in the sports betting industry and that the UFC’s largest demo is primarily the 18-34-year-old male.

Regulation 22

Nevada’s gaming industry has long been considered the “gold standard” for regulating gambling in the United States. As such, many states that have legalized sports betting since 2018 have turned to Nevada for its sportsbook regulations.

Nevada’s Regulation 22 is the state’s code regarding race books and sports pools. Section 22.06 states that sportsbooks “shall not knowingly accept money or its equivalent ostensibly as a wager upon an event whose outcome has already been determined.”

Since WWE matches are predetermined by the league’s creative minds before wrestlers enter the ring, Nevada’s sports betting law has always prohibited oddsmakers from accepting action on WWE events.