-- Last year, it was reported that WWE was looking into the idea of entering the legalized gambling space by allowing bets to be placed on high profile matches. At the time, WWE had talks with various state gambling regulators but for the idea to become a reality, significant changes such as working with a firm, locking in match results well ahead of time and protecting against any leaks, would have had to take place. Speaking to CNBC, TKO President & CEO Mark Shapiro shot down any rumors that WWE is still looking to get into that area.
“Not happening. It’s not happening. We’re scripted. Look, years ago I ran Dick Clark Productions. We had enough challenge keeping the American Music Awards and the Golden Globe winners under wraps with an auditor that was there. We’re not going to be asking Triple H, Paul Levesque, who runs our creative, to keep his scripts so under wrap that we can start sports betting. It just doesn’t jive."
-- UFC, the other entity that rolls up under TKO, continues to see considerable growth in gambling particularly among young men. WWE and AEW meanwhile have worked with DraftKings on betting on matches but it has never been instituted for money but rather was free-to-play options.
