WWE & Front Office Sports Enter Partnership To Produce 'Behind-The-Scenes Content'

It's been a tumultuous road to WrestleMania 42 for WWE, one filled with reports of creative changes, frustration within certain departments, and concern over ticket sales for the event. But despite the bumpier road, WWE is still doing all it can to make their marquee event one to remember. And one way it'll be doing that is with a new partnership that may seem inconsequential to some, but could have major ramifications in how WWE is covered.

In a press release unveiled Tuesday morning, WWE announced a new agreement with Front Office Sports. The agreement will see the start of a "content partnership" between the wrestling promotion and multimedia/sports new organization, designed to "bring audiences closer to key WWE moments and tentpole events through access-driven, behind-the-scenes content." It was further suggested Office will be involved in certain creative elements with WWE, and that the deal will start officially at WrestleMania 42.

"Front Office Sports is known for its innovative approach to storytelling, and we look forward to partnering to produce new and dynamic content that underscores the evolving business of WWE," Co-Head of WWE Revenue Alex Varga said in a statement.

"Front Office Sports is the leader in the coverage of the business of sports, and we're excited to collaborate with the WWE," Front Office CEO Adam White said in an accompanying statement. "The sports media landscape is increasingly driven by off-the-field happenings, and this partnership will bring fans closer than ever to their favorite athletes, entertainers and moments in a unique way."

Front Office becomes the latest media company that WWE has entered a relationship with, having already established partnerships with Bill Simmons' The Ringer, Spotify, and ESPN through the promotion's PLE deal with the sports network. It also continues Front Office's trend of reaching content deals with sports organizations, having previously reached agreements with the National Football League and the National Women's Soccer League.

I expect that for most people, this WWE/Front Office Sports story will be taken as something business related and nowhere near as important as the onscreen comings and goings within WWE. But for me, it's a pretty big story, especially in the wake of Brandon Thurston and John Pollock's report from last week which revealed WWE had nixed ESPN giving letter grades in their review of WWE PLE's because they didn't like ESPN giving Wrestlepalooza a C, a sign that WWE was throwing its weight around over its broadcast partner covering them objectively. Things like that, and now this story today, are why you may see some fans taking to social media to accuse certain publications of being "state media" for WWE.

Whether WWE or those media companies like it or not, that is a growing perception and in my view not an unfair one. Media that covers anything, whether its something actually important like politics or world news, or something largely insignificant like wrestling, should strive to be objective in its reporting. How can that happen now when Front Office Sports is now working directly with WWE, and how can people believe reporting is objective when ESPN is removing letter grades, seemingly to make sure WWE's feelings aren't hurt? How are fans supposed to view it as anything other than these companies showing bias to WWE?

Shortly after this news today, Thurston noted his previous coverage of the Janel Grant lawsuit had been freelanced to Front Office Sports, pointing it out in a way that suggested he didn't expect that sort of thing to continue. That is the crux of the problem. Media companies getting into bed with the entities they cover, whether it's WWE, AEW, NFL, Major League Baseball, NHL, NBA, or whoever, is a negative. All it does is make the media covering it less objective, and makes the viewer more likely to distrust the news that they're being given. This may not be a story for the average wrestling fan, but for me, it's another sign that WWE's growing influence within sports/wrestling media is making it harder for the promotion to be covered objectively.