WWE is attempting to legalize betting on scripted match outcomes.
According to a new CNBC report, WWE is in talks with state gambling regulators in Colorado and Michigan about possibly legalizing betting on high-profile scripted match outcomes.
WWE has hired accounting firm Ernst & Young (known as EY) to secure scripted match results in the hopes of convincing regulators that no results will be leaked to the public. EY and other accounting firms have previously collaborated with award shows such as the Academy Awards and the Emmys to keep results private.
WWE executives are said to have used betting on the Academy Awards as a model to persuade regulators that gambling on scripted matches is safe. Betting on the Academy Awards is already legal and available on some sports betting apps, including market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings, both of which have previously partnered with WWE.
While the Academy Awards voting results are known to a select few people before they are made public, they are not scripted by writers, as WWE matches are. Even if regulators legalize gambling, betting companies must decide whether they are willing to place wagers on WWE matches. According to CNBC’s sources, these discussions have yet to take place at betting companies.
Allowing gambling on certain WWE matches would also alter how matches are produced as well as storylines. WWE executives have proposed that scripted results of matches be locked in months ahead of time in discussions about how gambling on pro wrestling could work. The wrestlers would not know whether they were winning or losing until shortly before the match.
In one case, WWE predetermined the outcome of the WrestleMania main event months in advance, based on a scripted storyline that hinged on the winner of the Royal Rumble in January. Betting on the match could then take place between the conclusion of The Rumble and the days, if not hours, before WrestleMania, when the wrestlers and others involved in the show’s production would learn the results.
It was also noted that if WWE is successful in its bid to legalize betting on match results, it could pave the way for legalized betting on other closely guarded, secretly scripted events, such as future character deaths in TV shows.
