Vince McMahon attends a press conference to announce that WWE WrestleMania 29 shall be held at MetLife Stadium in 2013 at MetLife Stadium on February 16, 2012 in East Rutherford, Latest Jersey.
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WWE is in talks with state gambling regulators in Colorado and Michigan to legalize high-profile betting, according to people conversant in the matter.
WWE is working with accounting firm EY to secure scripted match scores in hopes of convincing regulators there isn’t any likelihood of the scores being leaked to the general public, said individuals who asked to remain anonymous as discussions are private. Accounting firms PwC and EY, also generally known as Ernst & Young, have worked with award shows including the Oscars and Emmys in the past to keep the results secret.
Oscar betting is now legal and available through some betting apps including market leaders FanDuel and DraftKingsalthough most states don’t allow it. WWE executives have cited betting on the Oscars as a template to persuade regulators that gambling in match scenarios is secure, people said.
Still, while the results of the Oscars voting are known to a select few before they’re announced publicly, they should not written by the screenwriters. Even when regulators allow gambling, betting firms could have to resolve whether or not they want to bet on WWE matches, even in the event that they are legalized. According to people conversant in the matter, such discussions haven’t yet taken place at bookmakers.
A WWE spokesman declined to comment. An EY spokesperson couldn’t be contacted immediately for comment.
According to the Michigan Gaming Advocate, the Michigan Gaming Control Board publishes Sports Betting Directory. Once the catalog update is approved, the knowledge is made publicly available through the agency’s website and with sports betting operators.
The Colorado Division of Gaming told CNBC that it doesn’t currently allow or consider allowing sports betting on WWE matches.
Under lock and key
If WWE succeeds in legalizing in-match gambling, it could open the door for legalized betting to other guarded, secret events, similar to future character deaths on TV series.
Allowing gambling in certain WWE matches would change the best way matches are produced – and the way stories are made. In discussions of how gambling in wrestling could work, WWE executives have proposed that match scores be locked months in advance, according to people conversant in the matter. The wrestlers themselves would not know in the event that they were winning or losing until shortly before the match, people said.
For instance, WWE may lock the results of the major event of WrestleMania months ahead of time based on a scripted storyline that depends on the winner of the January Royal Rumble. Match betting could then happen between the top of the Royal Rumble and the times and even hours before Wrestlemania when the wrestlers and others involved in the production of the show will know the results.
The introduction of legalized gambling could increase WWE’s appeal to a recent fan base while significantly changing creative stories. Paul Levesque, whose wrestling name is Triple H, took over as head of WWE’s creative operations from Vince McMahon in July. McMahon stepped down as president and CEO of WWE last 12 months amid allegations of sexual abuse but returned to the WWE board in January as executive chairman to prepare the corporate for the sale process.
Two people have said that WWE is ready to meet potential buyers of the corporate next month in preparation for first-round deals. There isn’t any guarantee that the transaction will happen.
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