WWE’s current situation in regards to WrestleMania’s status is complex and part of the reason for it has to do with insurance.
On a recent episode of Fightful’s “List & Ya Boy” podcast, Fightful owner Jimmy Van spoke on the ramifications WWE could face by canceling WrestleMania. The economic effect of canceling the show would largely depend on the type of insurance WWE has for WrestleMania and whether or not the city of Tampa ordered WWE to cancel it.
If there was a recommendation, and not an order, from the city to postpone or cancel the show and WWE followed through, the company may not be able to recover some of the financial losses that come with such a decision because of the insurance.
“The answer comes down to insurance coverage. In pro sports, most leagues opt to pay for premium coverage called communicable disease-related losses. If a pro league acts on the recommendation to cancel as opposed to the order to cancel, they may not be able to trigger coverage, that they may not be able to recoup losses through insurance. That’s what we first saw in Ohio. They recommended canceling events and the Columbus Blue Jackets came out and said they are going to go on as planned. It was because of insurance. But now, Ohio has come out and said, ‘We’re ordering you to do this,'" Van said.
Although what kind of insurance WWE has is unknown, one can surmise that it is a setup similar to those pro leagues. As far as what he believes will happen, Van thinks WWE will do WrestleMania if the city of Tampa issues a recommendation and not an order to cancel or postpone.
“I don’t know what kind of insurance WWE has for WrestleMania, but my guess, especially for an event of that size and that many people, it’s probably similar to most pro leagues. WWE is not going to cancel WrestleMania based on the recommendation from the city of Tampa. They will cancel WrestleMania or move WrestleMania or reschedule WrestleMania if they’re ordered to. That to me is the difference,” Van said.
The show already had multiple matches announced, including Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship, Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship and Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women’s Championship.
A number of promotions around the world have already announced that several shows have been canceled and you can check out which companies canceled shows on Fightful’s wrestling section.
In the sports world, a number of pro sports leagues have either suspended their seasons such as the NBA and MLB announced that it has delayed its Opening Day games for at least two weeks.
Van’s comments can be seen on “List & Ya Boy” at this link.
