The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission, best known as the “boxing commission,” regulates boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling events in the state. That group voted in 2005 to allow the Vince McMahon-owned WWE, and any other organization with “total assets of more than $25 million,” an exemption to its jurisdictional controls.
A move by some commission members, notable among them Cary Ichter, an Atlanta attorney who represents the father of deceased wrestler Chris Benoit, to rescind the WWE’s exemption had the wrestling organization threatening to stop doing business in the state.
“If those regulations are applied to us, we won’t do Georgia,” WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt warned the commission before it tabled a vote on the matter at a late-December meeting in Atlanta. Others worry, though, that the commission may again push lawmakers to take up the matter when the state Legislature convenes later this month.
“(The move to rescind the WWE exemption) is obviously in response to the Chris Benoit situation,” Albany Civic Center Director John Mazzola said, referencing the well-known WWE performer who killed his wife and his son before killing himself last year in what many say was an act fueled by illegal performance-enhancing substances. “(The commission) wants to regulate WWE wrestling as a sporting event to make sure ‘there is a level playing field.’
“But the WWE is not a sporting event, it’s entertainment. The shows are scripted, and the outcomes are determined in advance. If there’s a problem with illegal substances, it should be a law enforcement issue. Don’t punish a company that provides sports entertainment.”
Many have speculated that by rescinding the WWE’s exemption, which must be approved by the state Legislature, the state would subject the wrestling organization to an additional 10 percent tax that would cut deeply into the company’s profit margin.
“Those guys aren’t bluffing when they say they’ll quit coming to Georgia,” Mazzola said of the WWE. “I worked at an arena in South Carolina where such a commission governed wrestling events, and when I called to try and get them to come to our place, they flatly refused.
“It’s not like they’re hunting for places to hold their shows. People want to do business with WWE.”
The bottom line for promoters and arenas is, Mazzola says, money.
“It will affect Atlanta in a big way, because when the WWE holds its Wrestlemania event at the Georgia Dome, you’re looking at a $3.5 million to $4 million gate,” he said. “Take 10 percent of that, and it’s quite a chunk.
“But it’s a concern for all venues in the state that hold WWE events: us, Columbus, Macon, Savannah. Our gate may be $100,000 to $125,000 where the extra 10 percent amounts to the profit margin. These guys have a great business plan; they know the fan base for the different arenas.”
Area legislators, who return to Atlanta for the 2008 session Jan. 14, say they aren’t aware of any pending legislation aimed at WWE, but that doesn’t mean the issue won’t come before the Legislature.
“I’ve heard concerns about the issue, but I haven’t had a chance to research it yet,” State Sen. Michael Meyer von Bremen, D-Albany, said. “I don’t know of any pending legislation, but I know I wouldn’t support any issue that would have a bad economic impact on Albany and Southwest Georgia.
“You have to understand that sometimes legislation like this is filed as a means to piggyback other issues, and sometimes legislators will (file legislation) just so they can go to a particular group and say ‘see, I filed it.’ Many times they have no intention or hope of actually seeing the measure pass.”
State Rep. Winfred Dukes, D-Albany, said he’s more concerned about the negative economic impact the issue might have on smaller venues like the Civic Center than he is larger events in metro Atlanta.
“I think it would hurt the smaller venues even more,” Dukes said. “Any such legislation like this would amount to a tax increase, and that’s not something I’d be in favor of.”
The WWE recently held one of its “RAW Live” events at Philips Arena in Atlanta and will hold a similar event next Saturday at the Tallahassee Civic Center. Mazzola said the company, which came to Albany Aug. 18, has two more shows scheduled at the local civic center within the next 18 months.
State Rep. Ed Rynders, R-Albany, said there’s a bigger issue than money at stake in the battle.
“First of all, I wouldn’t be in favor of singling out the WWE or any other wrestling organization,” he said. “There should be conformity. I also don’t want the state of Georgia used as a negotiating tool between the Benoit family and WWE.”
Rynders notes that there’s another downside to taking on the WWE: “I sure don’t want those guys opening up a can of ‘whup-butt’ on me.”