WWE has filed a lawsuit against Texas’ Attorney General seeking to prevent their “proprietary information” about bidding for the 2023 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event from being released.
Wrestlenomics is reporting that WWE filed suit on February 16 about their agreement with the City of San Antonio to bring the 2023 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event there.
The lawsuit was filed after Wrestlenomics and Intelligence Options, LLC requested records from the city after the Royal Rumble to report on ticket sales for the event including what the city provided to the wrestling promotion in exchange for bringing the event to the Alamodome.
WWE has claimed that the agreement is a trade secret containing proprietary information that it fits within an exemption in Texas’ public information law.
City officials were granted an exemption from the Attorney General’s office allowing them to withhold the information, but instead, the Attorney General reversed course on January 17, 2024.
Assistant Attorney General Michelle Garza noted in the revised decision that “WWE has failed to provide specific factual evidence demonstrating the information at issue is confidential under” Texas’ public information law.
WWE has a practice of receiving site fees from government entities for major events. For instance, WWE received over $1.5 million in subsidies from the Puerto Rico government to host Backlash and SmackDown in the territory last year.
TKO’s Mark Shapiro also stated in December that WWE was receiving $16 million for events in Australia, which likely includes Elimination Chamber: Perth.
It is to be noted that the bidding contract is eligible for a records request because the Alamodome is owned and operated by San Antonio’s city government. Similarly, the contract between the city and WWE is a public record for the same reason.
WWE argues that the contract should be exempt from all public record requests as it contains trade secrets, which are described in the public information laws as (with some conditions) “all forms and types of information, including business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, and any formula, design, prototype, pattern, plan, compilation, program device, program, code, device, method, technique, process, procedure, financial data, or list of actual or potential customers or suppliers, whether tangible or intangible and whether or however stored, compiled, or memorialized physically, electronically, graphically, photographically”.
WWE is seeking a judgment and injunction to prevent the release of the bidding contract.
WWE Senior Vice President of Communications Chris Legentil said in the suit,
“If this information was made publicly available and Brandon Thurston was permitted to publicize our financial information and negotiated terms on Wrestlenomics, WWE would lose our bargaining power in negotiating all of our live events and much of the value of a bidding process for venues.”
WWE, the world-renowned professional wrestling company, has recently filed a lawsuit against Texas’ Attorney General in an effort to prevent the release of their “proprietary information” regarding the bidding process for the 2023 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. The lawsuit was filed on February 16, following a request by Wrestlenomics and Intelligence Options, LLC for records from the City of San Antonio regarding ticket sales and the agreement between the city and WWE.
The agreement between WWE and the City of San Antonio to bring the Royal Rumble event to the Alamodome is considered a trade secret by WWE, containing proprietary information that falls under an exemption in Texas’ public information law. Initially, city officials were granted permission to withhold the information, but the Attorney General’s office reversed this decision on January 17, 2024.
Assistant Attorney General Michelle Garza stated that WWE had failed to provide specific evidence demonstrating that the information in question is confidential under Texas’ public information law. This led to WWE’s decision to file a lawsuit seeking a judgment and injunction to prevent the release of the bidding contract.
WWE has a history of receiving site fees from government entities for hosting major events. For example, they received over $1.5 million in subsidies from the Puerto Rico government for hosting Backlash and SmackDown in the territory last year. Additionally, it was revealed in December that WWE was receiving $16 million for events in Australia, including Elimination Chamber: Perth.
The bidding contract between WWE and the City of San Antonio is eligible for a records request because the Alamodome is owned and operated by the city government. Similarly, the contract itself is considered a public record due to its association with the city. However, WWE argues that the contract should be exempt from public record requests as it contains trade secrets, which are defined in public information laws as various forms of confidential information, including financial data, customer or supplier lists, and more.
WWE’s Senior Vice President of Communications, Chris Legentil, emphasized the importance of keeping this information private. He stated that if the information were to be made publicly available and disclosed by Brandon Thurston on Wrestlenomics, WWE would lose its bargaining power in negotiating live events and the value of the bidding process for venues would diminish.
As the lawsuit unfolds, WWE is seeking legal action to protect its proprietary information and maintain its ability to negotiate future events effectively. The outcome of this case will have implications not only for WWE but also for the transparency of public records related to major events hosted by government entities.