UK Wrestling Promotions – Business Practices

    Benefits & Risks for UK Promotions, Businesses and for the UK Government

    86. At present when establishing a wrestling entity, there are no rules. Anyone can start a company, hire a ring and talent, and put on a show. There is little to no guidance for start-ups, no point of reference and no official body to advise on minimum requirements, policies or best practice. There is no industry kitemark or other reliability indicator. We were told that there is a complete absence of guidance on the legal documentation and licences required of each promotion when running a show and that specific, regular and annual risk assessments should be in place but are usually ignored.

    87. There are obvious advantages too there being a low bar for entry, as some submissions made clear. “It’s easy to start up a new company, it creates more opportunity for upcoming talent to gain experience in front of a live crowds, allows fans to engage with the entertainment form they love more easily” and we were informed, allows for a larger potential profit. However, the disadvantages, according to one submission included inexperienced promoters being unable to pay talent for work, booking talent on shows when they are not ready to perform, problems with tickets and capacity, poor show quality and more. This is of course not to mention inadequate health and safety provision, insurance and safeguarding. “Terrible and unsafe” promotions have abused this lack of regulatory control, said one witness. In short, the risks are both to individuals, the industry as a whole and its reputation.

    89. We heard from a number of companies about the good practice they seek to employ. For example, Revolution Pro Wrestling told us travel was agreed in advance with talent, it had various policies in place, accommodation requests and hotel bookings for shows that finished late, the company is also one of the few to pay talent via bank transfer and sell tickets through a licensed platform. We heard about food and water supplies and pre-paid expenses from Wrestling Resurgence and a host of good practices from Progress, Pro-Wrestling: Eve, and WAW to name a few.

    94. We do not wish to paint all venues in a negative light. We were told, to give one example, that the Attenborough Arts Centre had reacted positively to a different demographic visiting its premises not to mention the increased bar spend. However, so too we were told there had been occasions in which promoters had “encountered a definite sneering attitude towards wrestling”. “For example, I have tried on multiple occasions to book the Roundhouse in Camden”. “Each time I was knocked back with “we don’t do wrestling, we’re an arts venue”. The suspicion was that this related both to the failure of wrestling to be appropriately defined and that “promoters could not guarantee the hire cost”. “This suspicion is borne out by the same venue programming Mexican Lucha Libre “Lucha Future”, a production which was backed by the Mexican tourist board”. The comparison was made to mainstream Mixed Martial Arts fighting. “UFC/Bellator sponsorship is massive”, one witness said, suggesting it was more acceptable to the public, and explaining that photoshoots and social media influencing could be lucrative if wrestling was more mainstream.

    95. Ultimately poor practice and reputation can have an impact on promotion’s bottom line. As we have already outlined, we were informed that financial stability for promotions was rarely guaranteed (except on occasion where there is support from local government) and so too “workers are often left without pay when promotions fold and following up on lost finances is rarely successful.” This is of particular concern to us.

    Pay and Employee Rights in British Wrestling

    96. It is important to note that, as one witness made clear, “the British wrestling industry has created many jobs for aspiring wrestlers, tech and backstage people, promoters and others. There are many positives that come out of being a part of the industry and there is a world of potential for what the industry could become and what it could represent”. Many people have begun or maintain illustrious careers thanks to British Wrestling.

    97. However, there is very little protection for wrestlers across the UK independent promotions, from signing up to perform at a show all the way through to the journey home. “Most promotions book talent with no formal contract”, we were told. Deals are often struck via social media or verbal agreement. “There is no guidance on contract writing or when a contract would be advised. This has caused many incidents where talent have been underpaid or not paid, promotions have been let down by talent on the day of their shows, and arguments have arisen from lack of formal agreement.” We were told the shark practices can cut both ways with instances of talent having sought to double their pay to perform. Employment law and worker’s rights appear to be poorly understood across the industry and in many different contexts. One performer, Shauna Shay, made the extraordinary revelation on social media that she had been charged for footage of her own performance by a promoter. Another submission stated that many wrestlers are “unaware of volumetric capture and artificial intelligence and how that pertains to intellectual property ownership of characters”. This then underlines one of the many issues that can arise by not agreeing in advance conditions of booking, including use of one’s likeness.

    100. There is some overlap in questions of worker’s rights with the SpeakingOut movement which we cover in detail in a later section. We were told that rates of pay vary widely in the industry and though there are discussions taking place within British wrestling about wage levels that these vary with experience and demand. This can however lead to a clear gender gap in earnings. Equity suggested that ‘the sexual exploitation of workers arose from a culture of economic exploitation. In summary, with great competition for fewer opportunities to work, lack of representation of women in leadership roles in the industry and lower fees, women were underpaid, and have poorer prospects of fair and equal treatment. The perceived gender gap is something that requires proper analysis and investigation and we would strongly recommend that scholarly work or research by a respected NGO would be helpful in this regard, to inform debate and make recommendations for change. In the meantime, we would recommend that promotions and other wrestling organisations consider the gender imbalance in the management and leadership of their promotions and seek to redress any that exists.

    103. In a recent and well publicised case, the ride hailing app Uber was considered to have had responsibilities to drivers whose ‘subordination and dependency’ the company commanded. This raises very obvious and pressing questions for wrestlers across the UK with major companies. We will be seeking to engage with government to get clarity on this issue and we recommend that wrestlers press their union to seek legal advice as to the position of UK talent seeking contracts with major companies.

    106. Infrastructure to support talent working overseas would be welcome and we recommend that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department for International Trade introduce training for relevant cultural and trade attaches about wrestling, both to help promote the UK overseas but also to give talent a point of contact for future visits, and that the Home Office help to ensure the immigration infrastructure can more readily accommodate visiting talent.

    107. Outside of those contracted to large companies, and despite the gender pay gap, the general rates of pay in wrestling are poor. One submission gave details of the protection of workers in Japan. We were told that wrestlers tend to be salaried employees of companies with sponsorship, and this was considered secure and honourable employment. By contrast, the freelance UK talent can receive just tens of pounds to perform, despite significant travel and days that can be more than eight hours, meaning they earn far below the national living wage for their work. There is, as outlined above, no collective bargaining, no industry benchmarking and this led those providing evidence to allege that it is “fundamentally exploitative, and if permitted to continue raises significant questions about child labour and modern slavery.”

    108. We were also informed that, in Japan, there was a flat payment rate for crew members and specific arrangements for minors on the crew. Again, by contrast, we were informed that UK crew members, including children, are viewed as outside the remit of any promotion’s responsibility. In many cases, crew are expected to show up in advance, construct rings, secure them, and perform other functions, suffering long days in roles for which they may be unqualified, for little reward and no pay, sometimes in the hope of securing future bookings and subject to various power dynamics.

    109. Concerns about broader working conditions, outside of pay, contracts and status, were raised by several witnesses. We were informed that not all venues can have separate locker rooms as should be expected, and that in some cases talent were expected to warm up in cramped spaces. One witness said they had seen events in “ice hockey arenas and town halls” “abandoned arcades and warehouses that have no running water, internal power sources or designated changing areas”, “nightclubs, shabby working men’s clubs with damp running up the walls”, “circus tents in a muddy field and even a cave in the Peak District with freezing temperatures and water dripping from above”. Though these venues were said to be “fun”, “exciting” and helped to draw different audiences, there must of course be some standards in place to protect talent.

    110. Pro-Wrestling: Eve told us that it had tried to institute a contract, including expectations that the company had (for example in relation to so-called ‘hardcore’ matches) but that this was far from an industry standard. We were told that, for example, Progress Wrestling provided water, had masseurs, mental health support, agents for shows and so on. OTT in Ireland apparently handled travel arrangements professionally, providing details in advance and provided food and water, and WXW in Germany had excellent COVID protocols, including a governing body present at each taping day. These good practices were contrasted with the bad, including poorly run backstage areas in inadequate venues. This was compounded by allegations of controlling and abusive, hypermasculine, homophobic and sexist promoters, who would allegedly seek to control and abuse individuals, blacklist them for seeking employment in other promotions and even seek to induce real violence between competitors. At present, there remains little place for talent subjected to such behaviours, especially younger talent, to turn to for advice or support

    111. Across the many submissions we received, not only was bad practice evident but it appeared to be commonplace. As described, there were efforts particularly after the Speaking Out movement, towards instituting good practices, at least in the case of some of the larger promotions, but there appears to be industry-wide cultural problems and levels of risk that require address. This will benefit not just the talent working shows but the wider industry. As one submission put it “jobs in the industry can become more sustainable and the social profile of professional wrestling will become more respected and more popular because it will be a safer place for people to be involved in.”

    112. Progress Wrestling gave us its view that “The level of professionalism within the industry will dictate the ability to sustain, in term grow, and be taken seriously by the mainstream press and therefore brands, investors and other exposure platforms. We tick so many boxes for government and industry to support. We should be a proud export and ultimately earn back for this country, but the perception of the industry is let down by a lack of regulation leading to a reduced desirability of investment, less pressure to be cared for (physically, mentally and financially) and increased anxiety and mental health issues for those within who run the risk of being taken advantage of.” The Progress team are right. It is clear that change will bring multiple, residual benefits across the industry

    113. (Partial) Our firm recommendation, given the extent of the issues that need addressing is that a new association be established for the promotion, support and regulation of wrestling promotions.

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