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GFW Impact Wrestling In Danger: Anthem Sports Losing Money And Wants Out

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 09:47 PST, Sep 6, 2017

Yesterday, GFW Impact Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett was sent home by Anthem Sports for an indefinite leave of absence due to “personal reasons.” During a media call today, Anthem Sports confirmed the move but refused to comment on it.

GFW Impact Wrestling Losing Money

In an investigative report, Sports Illustrated reported that GFW Impact Wrestling has been “hemorrhaging funds” from Anthem Sports and that the parent company wants out of the wrestling business completely. The report said they are ready to sell GFW Impact Wrestling, despite only owning them for less than a year.

The fact that GFW Impact Wrestling was losing money for Anthem Sports was said to play out at the latest television tapings. Anthem chose only to fly in specific talents and used some for only specific tapings before sending them home early to save money.

Current GFW Impact Wrestling contracts pay wrestlers flat amounts for the days they work even if the tapings are for multiple appearances spread out over the shows. By not flying certain people in (like Homicide of LAX), Anthem Sports doesn’t have to pay him, and by shooting all a talent’s appearances in one day and then flying them home, they can pay one flat amount and save money on the rest of the TV taping days.

The Future of GFW Impact Wrestling

The departure of Jeff Jarrett is rumored to be due to his erratic behavior recently. Sports Illustrated also reported that Jarrett is actually out as the chief creative officer of the company, so the impact of that is up in the air.

However, GFW Impact Wrestling has faced a number of issues since Anthem Sports took over. They had to settle a lawsuit involving Billy Corgan, who originally wanted to buy the company. They are still embroiled in legal issues with Matt Hardy over the Broken Universe. There is also the public relations nightmare that occurred due to Alberto Del Rio and Paige’s domestic issues.

Despite the new issues, including Jeff Jarrett leaving and Anthem Sports allegedly wanting out of the wrestling business, GFW Impact Wrestling made some huge announcements in the conference media call today.

GFW Impact Wrestling announced they have extended their television deal with Pop TV and the Global Wrestling Network, which will be the company’s answer to the WWE Network. The Global Wrestling Network will have 24-hour instant access to the GFW and Impact Wrestling libraries and will appear on Pluto TV.

[Featured Image by The Conmunity – Pop Culture Geek/Wikimedia Commons/Cropped and Resized/CC by 2.0]

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