Casino Royal Rumble: Pro Wrestling Enters the Casino

Pro Wrestling doesn’t really have anything to do with casinos right, but that could, and maybe should all change.

Casinos are where people go to gamble, drink, hang-out, and generally just have fun. There is always lots to see and plenty to do; every type of video or table game you could imagine is represented in any decent casino.

Some establishments even host elaborate events such as musical performances, magic shows, celebrity appearances and on occasion huge exhibition fights and sporting competitions to entertain their guest further.

While there have been limited occasions where a pro wrestling event has taken centre stage at a casino, there could be some merit in making this type of activity more common place.

We’ve taken a look at casinos and pro wrestling and what benefits they offer one other should a representative from each opt to undertake an agreement or partnership in the near future.

Pro-Wrestling

Pro-wrestling is just like any other sporting competition besides one major exception; it’s all staged. The reality of wrestling is that all events and actions undertaken by performers, or characters, are generally all premeditated and scripted to significant degree.

Top paid Pro-Wrestlers of all time

• Dwayne The Rock Johnson ($70m)

• Stone Cold Steve Austin ($45m)

• John Cena ($35m)
• Triple H ($25)

This truth was shrouded in secrecy for many decades, before eventually becoming an ‘open-secret.’

The predetermined nature of professional wrestling gradually became public knowledge, as prominent figures in the wrestling business (including World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon) began to publicly admit that wrestling was entertainment, not competition.

Although some fans and critics responded badly to the news, in general the ‘open-secret’ is ignored and the entertainment continues. The predictability and controlled nature can arguably be viewed as a positive for the ‘sport’ as events or competitions held in venues would go as planned, putting organizers and hosts at ease.

Pro-wrestling is currently a billion-dollar industry, drawing on revenues from ticket sales, TV broadcasts, branded merchandise and home footage DVD sales. The dominant company in the pro-wrestling community is WWE; Chairman Vince McMahon is worth an estimated $1.4 billion.

Casino operators obviously love money – who doesn’t – so it stands to reason that if they could somehow get in on some of the wrestling industries income, they would want it.

Casino patrons cold be sitting in an American poker room
and watching some guy get tomb-stoned in the same room; sounds appealing.

Fight Earnings

As mentioned, casinos already have their hands in the money pies that are exhibition fights; MMA, boxing and martial arts competitions have all had heir place in the casino spotlight at one point. The profits and revenue that can be generated from such an event is literally astounding.

In 2007 the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather bout, held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, pulled in an estimated staggering $130million in revenue. The fighters earned $52million and $25million respectively, for the one-time event.

Mayweather’s last fight, against Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 14 also at the MGM, set a record for a live boxing gate at $20.03 million, and the pay-per-view telecast also did a record $150 million in revenue.

For the upcoming fight in the same location, tickets are priced from $350 to $1,500 and the show will no doubt generate absurd amounts of money.

This is purely money generated at the casino, not including any money gained from people betting on sports in the US and worldwide.

Potentials

If the aforementioned sums can be achieved from boxing events, then surely a similar take could be considered plausible in a casino hosted Pro-Wrestling event.

Not only this, but as pro-wrestling is moving somewhat out of the spotlight in favor of other competitive fighting sports, this enterprise could potentially work wonders and bring much needed attention back onto wrestling. No doubt, the casinos public images would benefit also.

The potential for both industries to capitalize on an interesting opportunity is definitely a viable one. It’s not something that has occurred before, and should either side consider it would undoubtedly work in their favor.

Pro-Wrestling has an enormous fan-base worldwide, is a large enough casino operator were to put their name to the sport and host main events, such as wrestle-mania, the partnership would flourish.

In-house bets could generate further revenue for the operators, as they know the outcome of the events to come the odds would no doubt be stacked in their interest; and as people happily place bets on soap story-lines, such as ‘Who shot J.R’, then I don’t think there are any ethical issues with offering bets on an exhibition event that is scripted. More-so since everyone these days are aware of the ‘open-secret’ and should not be problematic if they choose to partake in a wager.

If the bouts were broadcast, mobile betting and internet operators could no doubt offer odds and get a slice of the action too.

The opportunity is there, and it makes sense; Pro-Wrestling should enter the casino environment.