Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offered an explanation for why he deemed WWE an "essential business" that's allowed to keep operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Speaking at a press conference, DeSantis said: "From just a psychological perspective, I think it's a good thing." He called for other forms of sports-entertainment to continue conducting business during the outbreak and nationwide stay-at-home order, such as Nascar and golf, which he would "like to see" televised again.
"Obviously, WWE -- there's no crowd or anything. Very small number of people. So we just kind of look at it on a case-by-case basis," DeSantis explained. He noted how the Walt Disney Company had asked its theme park workers and groundskeepers to be exempt, as well, to allow for upkeep and maintenance, and nobody batted an eye.
"I think that we do need to support content -- especially sports and events," DeSantis said. "Now we're not going to have crowds there, I get that. But if Nascar does a race and can televise it, without having the large crowds, I think that's a good thing...I think people have been starved for content. We haven't had a lot of new content since the beginning of March. Here we are now, the middle of April, and if people are being told to stay closer to the house it sure does help to have some fresh things to be able to do. And I think people are chomping at the bit. If you think about it, we've never had a period like this in modern American history where you've had such little new content, especially in the sporting realm."
Gov. DeSantis told reporters that he ultimately thinks the country needs to have "some light at the end of the tunnel" and be assured that things can go back to normal. "People are watching like re-runs from like the early 2000s," he said.
WWE made the decision to resume its live television shows on Monday following weeks of tapings due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It also received its essential status update on Monday after initially being deemed non-essential. The governor's office said things changed following "some conversations" with WWE.