The World Wrestling Entertainment,
previously known as WWF, has been entertaining fans for decades. WWE’s chariman, Vince McMahon, has done a
fantastic job in building this multi million dollar entity. The WWE’s biggest product is wrestling. Some legends include Stone Cold Steve Austin,
Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair. The
WWE controls the majority of the wrestling market. Like many of the prominent professional sport
leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.) the WWE has very little competition.
WrestleMania
is the WWE’s biggest event. WWE
announced that WrestleMania 31 broke records for viewership,
attendance, social and digital media engagement and merchandise sales. WrestleMania
31 was the most social event and the most watched WrestleMania in WWE’s
history. (Melok, 2015) “WrestleMania 31
broke the attendance record with 76,976 fans from all 50 states and 40
countries converged on the home of the San Francisco 49ers.” (Melok, 2015,
para. 7) “WWE generated $3.3 million in WrestleMania merchandise revenue.”
(Melok, 2015, para. 15)
Prior to WrestleMania 31, ESPN took
the time to promote the big event and the WWE.
Stories about WWE wrestlers’ contracts and upcoming matches were
discussed by many of the ESPN personalities. ESPN also used its social media accounts to
provide the WrestleMania results to their fans.
(Bradley, 2015)
Michael Bradley is a journalist for
the National Sports Journalism Center, and he feels that the WWE should not be heavily
reported by ESPN. Bradley believes in
the authenticity of sports. Sports are
unscripted and unpredictable. The WWE is
a scripted wrestling experience, and they have publicly admitted to have pre
determined matches/performances. Bradley
is okay with a little highlight reel here and there, but he does not want it to
get to the point where ESPN starts reporting the WWE as if it was a “real
sport.” (Bradley, 2015) Sport journalists
pride themselves on being able to report true events. Unlike sports, the WWE is fabricated, but it
has a huge fan following. Bradley's
overall argument is that covering the WWE like it's a legitimate sporting event
will create ethical issues if it was done solely to get more viewers/fans tuned
to ESPN. (Bradley, 2015)
Do you
agree with Bradley? Why or why not?
Should ESPN cover events produced by WWE? What are the pros and cons of this potential
partnership? How do you feel about
scripted events? Do you consider WWE’s
style of wrestling a sport? Which of the three theoretical approaches (Virtue,
Utilitarian, Deontology) is best for this situation?
-David Sims
References
Bradley, M. (2015,
April 7). Let’s hope media outlets remember what “E” in WWE means. Sportsjournalism.org.
Retrieved from http://sportsjournalism.org/sports-media-news/lets-hope-media-outlets-remember-what-e-in-wwe-means/
Melok, B. (2015,
April 1). WrestleMania 31 breaks more records. WWE.com. Retrieved from
http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/31/wrestlemania-31-breaks-more-records-27257176
David,
ReplyDeleteI think WWE is an interesting site to study how gender is constructed in 'sport,' although as you pointed out, WWE is really scripted. That in itself keeps it from being a 'real sport.' To be honest, I would rather see ESPN feature more coverage of women in sport rather than take on this version of a male soap opera. But that's me:-)
Good entry!
Dr. Spencer