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23 Ent. & Sports Law. 3 (2005-2006)
Pinned Down: Labor Law and Professional Wrestling - Part I: The History of the Billion-Dollar Pro-Wrestling Industry

handle is hein.journals/entspl23 and id is 84 raw text is: Guilds seek iPod video residuals The Writers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are working together to ensure residual compensa- tion formulas for the new video dis- tribution systems that are based on existing formulas for pay TV - not the formulas used for DVDs. The DVD formula is less lucrative because it pays a percentage based on only 20 percent of the wholesale receipts. Amazon announces 'Amazon pages' program Amazon.com announced a pro- gram called Amazon Pages that will unbundle books by enabling com- puter users to purchase individual pages of books for pennies. The Ama- zon Upgrade will allow computer users to buy hard-copy books as well as online access to the contents of those books, thus customers who want the physical book can start read- ing it right away on their computer while awaiting delivery of the book. Paramount buying film studio DreamWorks Paramount Pictures agreed to buy DreamWorks SKG Inc., paying $775 million in cash and assuming $825 million in debt and other obligations, the company said. Paramount will sell the DreamWorks film library, val- ued between $850 million and $1 bil- lion. Paramount will retain distribution rights to the 59 library titles, which include Oscar-winners American Beauty and Gladiator. Spielberg and Geffen will be responsi- ble for producing four to six live- action films a year, Paramount said, increasing its overall annual produc- tion to between 14 and 16 titles. PGATOUR signs newTV agreements The PGA TOUR signed new six- year TV broadcast agreements with CBS and NBC to provide weekend coverage of the PGA TOUR FedEx Cup competition for the 2007 through 2012 seasons. The Golf Channel will become the exclusive cable partner. Pinned Down: Labor Law and Professional Wrestling Part I: The history of the billion-dollar pro-wrestling industry By Jamie Sharp Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series on labor law issues in pro wrestling - the crossroad of sport and entertainment. rofessional wrestling has been one of the world's most popular forms of entertainment during the last century. With larger-than-life characters, compelling storylines and tremendous feats of athleticism, professional wrestling has captured audiences from generation to generation. Unfortunately, the industry is far from glamorous and has a checkered histo- ry regarding its labor relations. For decades, wrestlers have been manipulated by promoters and this manipulation has led them to suffer from unequal bar- gaining power and poor working conditions. By controlling the wrestlers, pro- moters have effectively squashed organizing movements by wrestlers and created a culture where wrestlers inherently distrust each other. Without a union to protect their interests, wrestlers have suffered. In fact, in recent years many wrestlers have suffered devastating neck and back injuries that will surely plague them for the rest of their lives. Even more tragic, howev- er, is the fact that many wrestlers die at a young age. Unfortunately, so long as wrestlers fail to unionize and are controlled by promoters, the unfair treatment of wrestlers will continue. This series of three articles will address the problems with labor relations in professional wrestling and propose possible solutions. Part One focuses on the history of the industry while analyzing today's current landscape - where only one company dominates the business. Part Two will examine the legal history of labor issues between wrestlers and pro- moters while analyzing the legal rights of wrestlers, particularly whether wrestlers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. Finally, Part Three will concentrate on solutions to these labor issues and suggest that unionization is necessary to avoid the tragedies that have plagued the business. The history of professional wrestling As one of the most enduring forms of entertainment, professional wrestling has evolved greatly over the past century from a collection of legitimate athletic contests to a sports entertainment spectacle. Even with these changes, however, the industry has grappled with similar labor relations problems throughout its history. Therefore, it is important to understand the history of the industry in order to properly understand its labor problems. Pro wrestling at the turn of the century At the beginning of the 20th century, professional wrestling and professional boxing had many similarities. Since neither sport had a season like baseball, promoting wrestling and boxing cards proved difficult.' While baseball fans could reasonably expect to see their home team play regular home games from April until October, wrestling and boxing fans were forced to deal with the irregular scheduling of boxing and wrestling cards.2 To further complicate mat- ters, there were not enough athletes in any one locale for continued competi- tion, whether for league or tournament matches.3 As a result, most professional wrestlers and boxers toured the nation on a traveling circuit, which also included actors, musicians and opera singers.4 Because of the nomadic nature of their business, professional wrestlers and boxers had to rely heavily on the savvy of local promoters to draw interest for their matches.5 As the wrestler/promoter relationship developed, promoters Fall 2005 /Volume 23, Number 3 / Entertainment and Sports Lawyer 3

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