WWE deemed "essential business" by Florida governor
Bob Jersey
Doug Fields
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:58 AM
To: TVorNotTV <tvor...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [TV orNotTV] WWE deemed "essential business" by Florida governor
M-D November
As a fan, I'm torn on this. On the one hand, with literally everything else shut down (and fresh content on TV becoming more scarce), I'm grateful that they're still producing 7 hours of new programming every week to take my mind off the general horrors of the world. And yet...the very nature of the wrestling business (and WWE's insistence to continue producing shows as if nothing is wrong, save for the lack of an audience) is putting WWE staff and performers at greater risk for COVID-19, and I can't in good conscience say that the reward outweighs the risk.
There's also what feels like an abuse of that "essential media" label. Diversion aside, there's nothing about WWE that could be considered "essential" in the current environment; I can only assume DeSantis granted the exception because a) WWE has made a big investment in the Orlando area, b) brings Wrestlemania to the state frequently, c) has the partnership with Full Sail University to produce NXT and d) via the more developmental side of NXT, frequently runs live events in-state. That being said, the only reason they're not running library material instead of risking performers with new content is that WWE's contracts with FOX and USA won't allow it. (They're even having to shift back to live shows starting this week because their contracts only allow a certain number of live-to-tape versions of Raw & Smackdown - pandemic or no.)
Bob Jersey
Doug Fields, to moi, today (4/14):
No, they don't, actually. The Florida tax base is made up of sales taxes and occupation fees in hotels.