The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on British Wrestling
40. The response of those giving evidence to the committee about the impact of COVID-19 on the wrestling industry was unanimous. It has been devastating. For an industry that centres on live events and close physical contact, it was perhaps inevitable that the pandemic would hit hard but for wrestling, there is a particular harm.
44. The UK wrestling industry’s own ticketing company, Ringside World, which had to deal with more than 40 cancelled or postponed events and more than £1,000 of refund transactions, explained that the pandemic had helped to expose the professionalism of promoters. Organised promoters, it told us, had communicated their plans, and set out how fans were to be accommodated. Others simply cancelled events, leading to unhappy customers. Some of the same promoters, we were told, have been asking for advance payment for postponed events despite venue closures and no new dates having been booked.
46. The ICW promotion said the pandemic had affected its ability to deliver content as part of a media rights deal, hampered its ability to pay for staffing and rent, had impacted on practical measures when running shows (such as the absence of a ‘gorilla position’) and was leaving management concerned about the lack of certainty about future events and their viability.
47. The owner of Revolution Pro Wrestling, Andy Quildan, explained that the impact of the pandemic had been “very tough” on his business, as a full-time promoter. The company, he explained to us, was trying to do the best it could under the circumstances but had lost tens of thousands of pounds in ticket sales and had only managed to retrieve flight credits (as opposed to refunds) for talent that had been due to visit. The protections it was putting in place in respect of physical health (including lengthy planning calls with medical experts), mental health, brand awareness, talent pay, bubbles and private testing for shows were very dear, as measured at its training school where non-contact sessions were taking place for limited numbers of students in bubbles of people, twinned with track and trace programmes. RevPro had reviewed both the sporting and performing arts guidance from the government and told us it adhering to both sets.
51. It wasn’t just a physical impact we were warned about but a psychological one too. “Mental health of performers and fans alike have certainly taken a huge hit due to the pandemic and not having that sports entertainment field to turn to they usually would”, we were advised.
55. For the Love of Wrestling (FTLOW), a large wrestling convention and one of the largest UK event organisers under the wider Monopoly Events banner, has not been able to hold an event throughout the pandemic. We were told that, as with most convention events across the world, given the restrictions on travel for both overseas fans and talent and the personal ‘meet and greet’ elements of such gatherings, proceeding as planned was impossible. Our attention was drawn to the wider economic consequences of such cancellations, including on the traders that usually exhibit at these functions and the venues that draw rent and other income from them. For the Love of Wrestling has previously hosted 15-20,000 people over a weekend and though the company was seeking to operate virtual events and arrange sales of signed merchandise, it was reluctant to run ‘covid compliant’ events given the disappointment voiced by fans where these had taken place in other territories. For a company priding itself on high-quality customer experiences, the space for social distancing, the option for invisible Perspex screens in photographs and other measures were possible but not optimal, we were told. In addition, the organisers had some concern that fans might wish not to return to public events beyond the end of the pandemic through anxiety about personal safety, or perhaps the understandable deterrent effect of the Speaking Out movement.
56. The Equity Trade Union told us that it feared, even should a return to ‘normal’ be possible, that there will be “far fewer promotions for wrestlers to work” and “less talent available for promoters to book”. The union had some data based on an inquiry it ran to assess the live performance sector, and priorities for change when recovering from the pandemic. The initial data from nearly 3000 respondents revealed that 17% of union members were working outside of the entertainment industry, and a further 20% were actively looking for other work outside theatre. Though not specific to wrestling, Equity told us “there is an inevitable loss of talent as performers are obliged to migrate to other types of work in order to sustain an income. There will also be an impact of upcoming talent whose professional development will be arrested during this period and whose creativity and talent may be diverted to other parts of the economy. To the detriment of the UK wrestling scene.” Equity suggested talent seeking stability in wrestling might look to the major companies, where they might not otherwise have done so, specifically given WWE’s UK focus. The result would26 be that talent retention would likely be reduced – this appears to have been somewhat born out in reality. Meanwhile others voiced their anxieties about stars having to return home where normally based abroad, and the impact on connected workers including photographers, graphic designers and wrestling costume makers.
57. Equity also pointed to the precarity of the current employment status for wrestlers. “As self-employed artists wrestlers could not access the Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) but also it is reasonable to surmise, even if properly registered as self-employed with the HMRC, that very few were able to qualify for the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)”, similar to more than 50% of Equity’s other members.
58. In light of the difficulties in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the danger posed to the industry and the lack of available support, we recommend a special covid recovery fund(s) be established, in line with our other recommendations in this report, to be overseen by relevant Non-Departmental Public Bodies.