The owner of a British Wrestling company in East Lancashire is concerned that the cost-of-living crisis is battering the industry and making the sport inaccessible to working-class families.
Phil Davies, 35, of Padiham, set up Unstoppable British Wrestling in 2017 after he took his four children to a WWE event and was “appalled” at how expensive it was.
The British Wrestling promoter has been organising pro wrestling events across Blackburn and Burnley that are financially accessible for families on low income for the last five years.
However, due to the increased cost-of-living venues have significantly increased hire prices and performers’ travel and petrol expenses have ‘gone through the roof.’
Speaking on how this has impacted the business, Phil said: “Everything’s going up in price so less people are able to attend the shows.
“We are putting many more hours in, to the point where we’re probably going below minimum wage.
“Our ticket prices have been the same since we started meanwhile, all our costs are increasing, and we know if we try to put up ticket prices it will just alienate even more of our audience.”
Sporting News reported the cheapest ticket for the WWE Clash of the Castle event in Wales is priced at £46 whereas the maximum price for an Unstoppable British Wrestling event ticket, featuring WWE NXT UK wrestlers, is just £16.
Unfortunately, the soaring costs within the sports entertainment industry is making it difficult to continue organising shows for fans.
Phil says whilst it may not be classed as a necessity, it is still vital families are able to find forms of escapism to have a ‘break from all the negativity’ and spend some quality time with family.
He said: “It's not desperate yet, but we haven't hit October 1 and the imminent winter energy bills.
“Stories in the news like cinemas being in trouble and challenges with ticket sales on our shows suggest even low-cost family entertainment is now a luxury rather than a necessity.
“Now, even our shows are out of reach to a lot of parents, so we've been working with local organisations and sports teams to bring groups of kids to our shows to give them the opportunity to experience live entertainment.
“After our next show, we'll have probably helped about 200 young people by giving them a few hours of escapism.”
The WWE recently cancelled their NXT UK show on BT Sport meaning the full-time salaried wrestlers may lose their jobs.
This is a very dangerous plan for wrestling. This would make WWE's monopoly on the industry unstoppable and basically destroy indie scenes from all over the world.
— Juan C. Reneo (@ReneusMeister) September 22, 2022
Look at the state of Brit Wres after NXT UK. It's depressing reading replies being excited about this. https://t.co/bNI7b2YOSJ
Speaking on WWE’s plans to globalise NXT UK, pro-wrestling reporter Juan C. Reneo wrote on Twitter: “This is a very dangerous plan for wrestling. This would make WWE's monopoly on the industry unstoppable and basically destroy indie scenes from all over the world.
“Look at the state of Brit Wrestling after NXT UK. It's depressing reading replies being excited about this.”
The social media manager at Unstoppable British Wrestling, Tony said: “This impacts the wrestlers, performers and crew who are all freelance/self-employed and rely on the income from these shows to pay their own bills.
“All these employees are now looking for freelance work in the independent scene.
“It's all worrying for the future of our industry and all of live entertainment.”
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