WWE may not transform its planned fights into betting markets for regulated sportsbooks, despite previous pledges to increase income.
Shapiro refuses to allow WWE betting in regulated markets.
TKO COO Mark Shapiro told CNBC’s Alex Sherman that these plans have been put on hold, due in part to the UFC-WWE merger.
Although Shapiro has spoken about the possibility of listing such events if regulatory approval is given, his most recent comment debunked the notion entirely, claiming that this is no longer a priority for the WWE.
“We aren’t doing that. We are programmed. I used to run Dick Clark Productions. We had enough of a struggle keeping the American Music Awards and Golden Globe Award winners under wraps with an auditor there,” Shapiro stated quickly.
He stated that it didn’t make sense for the authors to script the events and then keep them under wraps to prevent them from leaking. He stated that he had previous experience with scripted events and that they were not enjoyable to prepare and conduct.
See also:
A U-Turn That Means WWE Betting Isn’t Happening—Almost
However, others, notably the WWE, have continued to run betting on staged events.
Despite Shapiro’s confident statement that betting on the WWE would not be permitted in the United States with licensed sportsbooks, numerous offshore bookies are more than willing to place bets on these events, and they do so without any inside information.
Despite Shapiro’s prior remarks this year that the WWE would aim to leverage the betting vertical to promote popularity and engagement, these plans appear to have been postponed indefinitely.
Join us on all our social channels and groups
Gameongazette is present on:
