The contract was signed back in April. The WWE has the Pepsi Center on May 25. The WWE agreed to it. The Pepsi Center agreed to it. Stan Kroenke, the man who owns both the Denver Nuggets and the Pepsi Center, agreed with it. It was all set in stone. Is it the WWE's fault that Stan Kroenke is a complete moron who did apparently did not see his team still in the playoffs on May 25? Absolutely not. It's his error and he should suffer the embarrassment and humiliation that comes with not believing in your team.
As mentioned, legally the WWE does have the arena on May 25 and it should be theirs to give up. Darren Rovel on CNBC.com had this to say about this spat.
Even though the Nuggets are the main tenant of the building and the team is owned by the same guy who owns the Pepsi Center, Stan Kroenke, the lawyers representing the venue did not take into account that the Nuggets could still be playing the playoffs when they signed the contract with the WWE.The last paragraph is in there just so you realize that we are not dealing with some local city circus, which would just completely forget that they are in the legal right and just bow down to The Great NBA Playoffs and just give them the arena because they are so Great and unscripted, you can't forget unscripted! How dare scripted wrestling even think about taking over the arena on a date that unscripted basketball was later scheduled for? Legalities be damned! The WWE is scripted bullshit and has no place in an NBA arena because everyone cares about basketball and no one the WWE!!!
We know this because there is no sort of remedy provision that says that in the case of a conflict, this, this or that will happen. The only clause that is in most of these contracts is a force majeure, which basically would say that the venue and its operator is not responsible for any losses in the event something, like a force of nature, occurs.
But knowing how late the NBA makes its final scheduling of games in the playoffs, the folks at the Pepsi Center should have put in specific provisions for this happening.
For those who don't realize how big the WWE is, let me give you some numbers. "RAW" is broadcast in 30 languages in 145 countries. The WWE uses 12 tractor trailers, 2 TV trucks, a generator truck, a satellite truck and seven tour buses to carry the equipment (as much as 110,000 pounds of cargo) and crew to weekly events.
Enough of the sarcasm and back to the point, the arena is the WWE's on that date! No ifs ands or buts about this. It is theirs to give up! Stan Kroenke's poor management skills and overlooking of the date has put everyone in a hole! He reported this date as an open date for the Pepsi Center! It's his mistake and he should pay for it. And this is not a minority opinion here. According to WWE.com, polls conducted by both CNN Headline News and Yahoo! Sports have said that fans believe that WWE is in the legal right and should have the arena on May 25.
Now Vince McMahon is by no means a stupid person. Au contraire, he is very smart and he knows exactly what he is doing here. As far as what should legally happen, the NBA works around the schedule and possibly swaps venues for games 2 and 4 or games 5 and 4 or something like that. What most likely will happen is that the WWE will take a whole lot of money (possibly millions) from Stan Kroenke and put their show on at either the Staples Center or Madison Square Garden, both of whom have offered to host WWE Raw on May 25. Vince McMahon knows this. But Vince McMahon will no doubt milk this and the publicity for all that it is worth. And I am sure he plans on making the NBA and Stan Kroenke sweat a little bit more before things are all set and done.
Oh, and as far as the future goes for WWE and the Pepsi Center, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be a long, long time before the WWE ever decided to come back to Denver after this.
Actually there is a clause in the contract that provides for the Nuggets having priority in the event of a conflict. Kroenke could have flat out cancelled the event, however, he tried to work with Vince to enable WWE have their show on Sunday night. Bottom line - the hype was worth more than playing the 3 Colorado dates.
ReplyDelete