AUSTIN, Texas — World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has filed suit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an attempt to block the release of bidding information related to the 2023 Royal Rumble, which was held in San Antonio last year.
This was spurred by a public information request from journalist Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics filed last February, which the suit states asked for "'public records relating to [the] WWE Royal Rumble,' including information about attendance, sales, and communications between the City and WWE."
For those unaware, many of WWE's large events now are often bid on by the local governments of cities, or occasionally countries, to be held there for the large economic boost they can often bring to the area. In exchange for the show taking place there, these local governments will offer financial subsidies to WWE. The 2023 Royal Rumble in San Antonio is one such example. Just last weekend, the WWE held a show similarly bid on in Perth, Australia.
The city of San Antonio objected to the disclosure. On April 28, 2023, Paxton's office issued a letter on the request, which allowed the city to "withhold the submitted information," including WWE's license agreement for the event held at the Alamodome.
But in January 2024, Paxton's office reversed its April 2023 decision to require disclosure of the information requested. But the WWE argues in the suit that the first ruling was correct and that its reversal should be overturned.
WWE argued in a brief sent to Paxton's office that the information relates to the confidentiality of trade secrets.
"Our brief argued that the Agreement contains information we have taken efforts to keep secret that, if released, would advantage our competitors, and which has independent economic value to us in not being known or easily ascertainable by competitors," WWE stated in the brief.
The requested information falls under the Public Information Act's definition of a trade secret, the suit argues, which states that trade secrets may consist of any "compilation of information which is used in one's business, and which gives him the opportunity to obtain the advantage over competitors who do not know or use it."
"WWE's proposed percentage splits, fees, estimated value and economic impact, negotiated waivers of costs and reimbursements, and comparables---constitutes commercial and financial information," the suit argues.
The suit also states that the requested agreement includes information such as WWE's pricing methodology, as well as internal operations and negotiated terms.
"Even within WWE, these terms are discussed only by a select group of internal personnel on a need-to-know basis, and the fully executed agreements are shared only with relevant personnel in WWE's Finance Department and saved on a drive that is accessible only by the Legal Department," WWE Senior Vice President, Head of Global Communications Chris Legentil argued in a declaration.
In the suit's conclusion, WWE asks the court to find that Paxton incorrectly determined that the "confidential agreement" should be released and that he incorrectly applied the law pertaining to the Public Information Act.
WWE will be in Dallas on March 8 at the American Airlines Center for a live taping of their weekly show "Friday Night Smackdown."
