The WWE approached state regulators in Michigan and Colorado to discuss offering legal sports betting on its matches, according to CNBC.
CNBC reported that the WWE has enlisted national accounting giant Ernst & Young to help convince regulators that match results would not be leaked to the public.
Still, the notion of betting on scripted matches appears both far-fetched and ridiculous. But what if regulators do approve it in certain jurisdictions, and more importantly, would sportsbooks actually offer betting markets on the WWE?
“The whole thing is a farce,” Circa Sports Operations Manager Jeff Benson said in an email to Gaming Today. “We wouldn’t ever consider booking this garbage.”
SuperBook VP of Risk Management Jeff Sherman was less strident, but don’t expect to see WWE wagering options at his book either.
“Never say never, but this is not something we would pursue as an addition to our wagering menu,” Sherman said in a text to Gaming Today.
WWE & Academy Awards Betting Comparison
CNBC’s report, based on anonymous sources, came ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards. Sportsbooks including DraftKings and FanDuel offer extensive betting markets on the Oscars.
Fancy a flutter on Best Animated Feature? FanDuel is dealing Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” as the -2000 betting favorite. DraftKings is offering “Avatar: The Way of Water” at -2500 to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
That’s how deep the markets go at two of the country’s leading commercial sportsbooks, but many states don’t allow betting on the Academy Awards. Per the CNBC report, Colorado is one of them, and the state’s Division of Gaming isn’t considering allowing betting on WWE matches, either.
The acting in WWE isn’t typically on par with what you’ll find in Hollywood, but it’s acting nonetheless. Reasonable minds can’t disagree on that last point. Would you really want to bet your hard-earned dollars on a staged competition? Would anybody?
Sports betting should be reserved for betting on actual sports, and the WWE doesn’t qualify as one.
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