As previously noted, WWE is planning to resume live TV tapings at the Performance Center starting next week despite Florida’s “stay at home” order.
According to Fightful.com, members of WWE staff were given a letter on Friday that said that they are considered “essential media” if they were stopped by law enforcement. “Newspapers, television, radio and other media” are considered essential services by the state of Florida.
WWE was originally scheduled to tape television shows during the weekend but Vince McMahon made the call to change plans as Smackdown was being taped on Friday.
Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted that WWE’s contracts with both NBC Universal and FOX only allow for a small number of shows to be taped during the calendar year. Meltzer wrote the following:
“While nobody will say so publicly, the fear was that by violating the contract, it would give the networks the legal ability to withhold money or find a way to change the deals. With no house shows, the company, like all sports companies, is surviving largely based on television revenue, but the networks paying that are also taking in far less revenue than they projected at this point in time due to the pandemic.”
There were reportedly many people within WWE that were “shocked” by McMahon’s decision but there were also people that defended it for being the correct economic decision.
