In one of the most extraordinary developments in the relatively brief history of the U.S. legal sports betting industry, the CNBC business channel has reported that the WWE has held exploratory talks with state gaming officials in Colorado and Michigan to allow for online sports betting sites to offer markets on its staged "wrestling" matches.
CNBC further reports that the WWE has hired the global accounting firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to provide independent security to prevent the identity of predetermined WWE match "winners" from being leaked prior to the conclusion of any live "contest."
In response to the report that cites unnamed sources, Colorado regulatory officials immediately denied via Twitter that any such discussions had been held with the WWE.
Statement from Colorado Division of Gaming on possibility of allowing betting on professional wrestling: pic.twitter.com/Fz6L3hegDD
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) March 9, 2023
The tweet firmly and unequivocally stated that no events with a predetermined outcome — including the Oscars, for example — are sanctioned for sports betting in Colorado.
Taking necessary measures
EY currently provides security for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which runs the annual Academy Awards ceremony, better known as the Oscars.
Betting on the Oscar winners, voted on by various branches of the Academy, except for the Best Picture Award that is voted on by all members, is legal and available in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, and New Jersey. In the Garden State, for example, residents can wager on individual Oscar categories with FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and BetRivers.
Canadians living in the province of Ontario are also able to wager on the Oscars by registering on the FanDuel Ontario sportsbook app.
The WWE is counting on the availability of Oscar betting to serve as a precedent for allowing wagers to be placed on WWE bouts. Both the Oscars and WWE matches have predetermined outcomes, i.e. the "winners" are already known beforehand.
However the key difference lies in the nature of the way the results are first "known" when comparing an awards ceremony to a scripted wrestling match that is intended as entertainment rather than a legitimate sporting event.
In the case of the Academy Awards ceremonies, the final tabulation of votes on various Oscar categories is completed and the results already "known" to EY employees weeks prior to the actual unveiling of the Oscar winners during the live TV broadcast — such as the one taking place this coming Sunday night.
In the case of WWE matches, WWE officials would know the results in advance, deliver the preordained results of a match to EY, and then presumably — any other way is almost inconceivabe — inform the wrestlers of the identity of the winner only at the last possible moment and under strict security just before they enter the ring.
Secured framework
Using EY as guarantors of WWE match winners helps lend a veneer of legitimacy to the organization, owned by legendary entrepreneur, Vince McMahon, who has accumulated a billion dollar fortune as head of WWE although he is now, at age 77, reportedly interesting in selling his empire.
However, it would be difficult to conceive of an airtight level of security with respect to a scripted wrestling bout unless the only "unknown" element — apart from the choreography and various staged fight segments — would be the identity of the "winner."
This allows for the possibility of the WWE deciding the winner only minutes before each match is to take place, thereby reducing the possibility of any "leaked" results to an absolute minimum.
Too much risk?
There is also the broader question of whether wagers should be allowed on any event where the result has already been determined and there is actually no "chance" or "skill" involved in the process that leads to a final outcome.
Unlike all other legitimate sporting events where oddsmakers can set a bettling line based on past performance, relative individual or team strength, and other statistics that allow a bettor to place a bet using his own judgement, WWE contests are strictly make-believe.
It would be equivalent to betting on the ending of a TV series where the outcome has been determined by writers and executed by the actors and witnessed by a crew.
That is why it is difficult to imagine a scenario where a state gaming regulator could allow for wagering on a predetermined event in which the competitors are acting — however the level of physical skill or the brilliance of the choreography — rather than engaging in any form of "sporting" combat.
BetMGM CEO says NFW to WWE betting
Already, there has been an initial signal by one of the leading U.S. sportsbooks that betting on fixed WWE wrestling bouts is anathema to operators.
During a KeynoteTalk at an iGaming industry event held in New York yesterday, CNBC journalist Contessa Brewer asked BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt to give his reaction to the breaking WWE story in front of a crowd of industry executives.
Brewer asked Greenblatt point blank: "Would you be interested in taking bets on WWE?"
Greenblatt cheekily replied: "NFW," (an abbreviation for "No F******* Way") eliciting a wave of laughter among conference attendees.
Unless there is a radical change in philosphy within the legal sports betting industry that is working hard to maintain safeguards and preserve integrity at all costs, that may well be the unofficial response from state regulators across the U.S.
