OPINION: Have sports leagues devolved into a controlled, corrupted entertainment or is it still a genuine sport?

John Oliver, in his piece on the WWE, identified a number of conditions that are present not only in the WWE but the major leagues of American sports. This essay will address both the similarities and some of the differences between them, and conclude with a discussion over whether sports leagues have devolved into controlled, corrupted entertainment, or if they remain a genuine sport.

The most significant condition that was raised in John Oliver’s piece was the mal-treatment of athletes in WWE. This mal-treatment occurs on many levels. The first is based on heath grounds. Performing as a wrestler is, despite its scripted nature, is still a high impact sport which results in injuries and afflictions. Clearly this is similar to the major leagues and the high contact sport of football, for example. In both the WWE and the major leagues of American sports, injuries occur and treatment is needed. For WWE wrestlers however, there is no health insurance. injuries that occur outside of the actual ring are not the responsibly of the WWE. In many instances, wrestlers have to live with the consequences of injury long after they stop receiving support from the WWE. This is similar to the NFL and other major leagues which have a reputation for discarding athletes once they are no longer playing or useful. Traumatic injuries such as CTE, brought on by high impacts to the head, may not present themselves until after the athlete has concluded their career; in the case of the NFL, there were deliberate attempts to Delay and Deny the existence of the issue to avoid legal and liability costs. In the case of WWE, the wrestlers were simply hired as independent contractors rather than employees which absolved the organisation of many of the protections that it would have to give to the athletes if they were employees.

It is well documented that wrestlers are far more likely to die younger when compared to other “entertainers” due to “a mix of medical reasons related to the sport, and ancillary reasons related to the lifestyle. Indeed, causes of death for wrestlers tend to center around suicide, drug overdose, or heart attacks. Concussions or traumatic brain injury are also commonplace.” (Gelber, 2021). These lifestyle factors, and the risk of concussions / traumatic brain injuries, are also similar to major league sports such as the NFL. The NFL, in particular has also been associated with such early deaths (Wadman, 2019). In both cases, it was noted that the athletes’ lifestyles, the “rollercoaster of celebrity” may have also led to some negative behaviours such as drug taking. The lack of heath support for athletes, outside of any health support that would benefit the bottom-line i.e., getting the athletes back in the ring/field/etc, is both a condition of the WWE and major league sports. Post career heath support is lacking – a result of the independent contractor status in the case of WWE and lack of action on the part of major league sports. While major league sports haven’t said it so openly, in the John Oliver piece there were recorded comments by Vince McMahon played where he stated that he bore no responsibility for the health concerns or early deaths of wrestlers that had previously wrestled for the WWE.

The limitations of independent contractor status of WWE wrestlers are also seen in Tier 1 NCAA Football, where unpaid student athletes are not considered employees of NCAA or their university/colleges and as such face the same restrictions on legal rights. This is despite the fact that, like WWE wrestlers, it is the athletes who are responsible for the on and off field performances that bring in the revenue. In these examples, we can see the same conditions where NCAA athletes and WWE wrestlers are useful to their respective sports only while they are playing. The independent contractors of the WWE are locked into their contracts which heavily favour the WWE but as soon as they are no longer of service, they can be discarded. Similar to NFL players who upon retirement, receive limited after support. Pablo Torre reported on a major league sports and the post-career finances of its athletes; by the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress, and within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.  In both the WWE and major league sports, it is the organising bodies who profit financially to a much greater extent than the athletes themselves.

Despite the challenges of the independent contractor status, many WWE wrestlers view the WWE as the top of the wrestling pyramid and as a result, are willing to put up with these limitations and the power imbalances – for the opportunity to wrestle for the WWE. This is similar to how athletes in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA view their respective leagues as being the top of their respective sports. They will “take what they can get”- perhaps knowing that there is a long line of other athletes who would gladly take their place, and that the team owners know this as well.

Throughout the comparison between the WWE and major league sports, the comparison has been made presuming that a fair one can be made. It should be noted that WWE is “sports entertainment” and perhaps not a sport by the same definition as the NFL and others. WWE brand their events as “sports entertainment” and publicly acknowledged the pre-planned nature of the sport. There is no illusion that this is a competitive sport. The outcomes are prearranged as a “creative” decision. This is, of course, a deliberate action by the WWE which brings several financial advantages, including removing the need to pay commissions or taxes to sport regulators and allows them to set different salaries based on their “creative” ranking of their wrestlers. 

When examining this concept of “sports entertainment” as it applies deliberately to the WWE, a comparative question to consider is “have sports leagues devolved into a controlled, corrupted entertainment or is it still a genuine sport?”. Technically, major league sports are still operating under the image that they are genuine sports – that is, openly competitive sports where the outcomes are not predetermined. 

“When you take away that fundamental element of fair competition, sports cease to have any meaning whatsoever. You have to believe.” (Leitch, 2021)

But it is this lack of predetermination that is put into question through the many match-fixing and sport betting scandals that have tarnished many sports reputations. The Tim Donaghy affair threw a spotlight on gambling and corruption within the NBA, not just Donaghy’s betting on matches but the lingering suggestions/allegations of his match-fixing. Rather than go quietly, Tim Donaghy threw fuel on the very public fire by making accusations of widespread match influencing by NBA match officials – either as personal revenge, at the behest of fixers, or at the direction of NBA officials to prolong a series for “entertainment” purposes. Donaghy claimed that Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was fixed by former NBA referee Dave Bavetta at the direction of the NBA to extend the series to 7 games. While the allegations were never proven – they continue to linger and cast a shadow over the NBA.

Major league sports are a multi-billion-dollar industry with significant TV media deals as well as merchandising and sponsorship. It has been seen that many major league sports prioritise the wellbeing of their business over their athletes. It is likely that other sports outside of the NBA have exerted pressure on officials or players to influence matches to benefit commercial objectives. 

It is not only the NBA that has allegations of predetermined outcomes. In 2021 Sportrader integrity services, which operates the Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS), had concerns over 633 separate matches – including 9 in North America (Steinberg, 2021). While North American matches had the lowest number of alleged fixes, there are a number of structural and organisational weaknesses in North America major league sports, and their care of players (discussed in previous assignments), which make major leagues vulnerable. In Professor Hill’s work in The Fix, we learned of the scale and scope of international sports fixers and their ability to corrupt the outcomes of top level sports matches, including the Olympics, the German Bundesliga and the English Premier League. As we seen Asian sports fans, and match fixers pivot West, it will not be long before many of the allegations of corruption in major leagues become a reality.

In summary, given the many different corrupting factors – either individuals fixing matches for financial gain, or officials pressured to influence the outcome of a game by sporting officials – perhaps the best that sports fans should hope for when watching their sport is their own entertainment. Anything more would be optimistic.

 

Sources

Hill, D (2010) The Fix, McClelland & Stewart

Gelber, J (2021) Why professional wrestlers are more likely to die young, https://www.salon.com/2021/03/14/why-professional-wrestlers-are-more-likely-to-die-young/

Leitch, W (2021) Sports Gambling is a disaster waiting to happen, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/micro-betting-could-destroy-sports/620188/

Steinberg, J (2021) Match-fixing suspicions raised in 1,100 cases since pandemic’s start, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/oct/15/match-fixing-suspicions-raised-in-1100-cases-since-pandemic-start-sportradar

Torre, P (2009) How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke, https://vault.si.com/vault/2009/03/23/how-and-why-athletes-go-broke    

Wadman, M (2019) Former football pros die at a faster rate than baseball veterans—and the reasons are surprising, https://www.science.org/content/article/former-football-pros-die-faster-rate-baseball-veterans-and-reasons-are-surprising

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