Court Bauer On How Talent Were Told MLW Was Shutting Down Due To COVID-19

In an interview with Entrepreneur, MLW President Court Bauer spoke about how the talent of the company was informed that it would be shutting down due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Here are highlights:

On telling MLW talent that the company is shutting down for now: “We’ve been straightforward with our message to them: Health comes first. Health comes second. Health comes third. And we have responsibilities to their families and to them to be prudent during a time when there’s so much uncertainty. We’ve had guys who have literally offered to do matches in the desert, one-on-one with a referee, and go through testing. We’ve had guys who just say, “However we can spread the word during this time and stay active and promote on social media.” Obviously, we’ve turned down the matches in the desert. [Laughs] I’m not interested in putting anyone at risk. There are so many steps to take to ensure the health of everyone. What’s the risk versus the reward?”

On how they’ll deal with the problem: “We’re best equipped to handle this, because we have a great relationship with our network and a 16-month strategy for programming with them. But on top of that, we have a podcast network; we have all these different ways to monetize the business beyond our taped library that goes back to 2002. We’ve been focusing our bandwidth on expanding our global footprint with deals in Poland and the Middle East and a few other regions. We’ve been revving up new podcasts, and we’re about to film a TV pilot that’s going to be a talking-head concept show. We’re finding different ways to create content that networks, domestic and abroad, have an interest in. You have to be nimble in these times, but a lot of people still want to do business. You just have to find the right fit. If we’re not going to produce live events until we’re further along, we’ve got to find ways to keep the doors open.”

On the silver lining of all this: “By me not focusing on live TV or taped programming and promoting that and doing media to sell tickets, I’ve freed up all this time to develop new concepts and focus on the merchandise. We’ve seen an uptick in T-shirt sales, and I think it’s a response to people saying they know the talent needs our support. The loyalty has blown me away, and it’s heartwarming. I think we have more flexibility than a massive business. You look at Disney, Endeavor, all these different companies — they’re having a liquidity crisis, because it takes so much to make that machine work, and you’ve gotta keep feeding it cash. When that cash isn’t coming in, they can’t pivot very easily, whereas I can. I’m smaller. I think there’s a lot of people who manage a business like this who say, “Let’s spend to compete.” Then there’s the other path that’s a little less sexy, but a little more cautious, and in dark hours like right now, you can chart your course a little more comfortably.”