Despite virus surge, WWE at home in Fla.

STAMFORD — When the coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the U.S., WWE pressed on and moved its TV show production to Florida. Three months later, it is sticking with that plan.

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Sunshine State — including at least one involving an WWE performer — the Stamford-based company has continued filming at its performance center in Orlando.

“WWE will continue COVID-19 testing of its talent, production crew and employees in advance of TV productions for the foreseeable future,” WWE said in a statement. It did not specify the frequency of testing.

Spike in cases in Florida

In mid-March, WWE temporarily stopped holding its shows — including its flagship programs Raw and SmackDown — in arenas and moved them to a closed-doors setup at the Orlando facility. The central Florida property has tradithey’re tionally operated as WWE’s training center for its performers.

At that point, Florida was dealing with much less severe coronavirus outbreaks than the hardest-hit states such as New York.

In the past month, however, the number of COVID-19 cases has rocketed to record levels for the state — a jump only partially explained by an increase in testing. Florida’s three-day moving average of confirmed new cases hit 4,600 on June 24, compared with 765 on May 24, according to

Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

“Any organization needs to keep an eye on what’s going on with the cases and needs to reflect and reassess what their plans are as they’re seeing levels of cases increase within the community,” said Cindy Prins, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida. “More circulation within the community means more opportunity for people within the organization to encounter the virus as out and about in the community. That’s more opportunity to bring it into the workplace, and that’s always a worry.”

Among the Florida cases was a WWE developmental performer who last attended the performance center on June 9, according to WWE officials.

In response, show production was temporarily suspended last week as all performers and production staff working in Orlando were tested for the virus, the company said. By June 17, production had resumed.

WWE did not respond to a question from Hearst Connecticut Media about whether any other performers or production staff had subsequently contracted the virus.

Performers do not wear masks during matches, but they and production

workers are required to participate in medical screenings before entering any closed set, according to WWE. The company did not respond to a question from Hearst about the components of those assessments.

“As far as temperature checks, only about half of cases present with fever,” Prins said. “So that’s not going to capture everyone who has symptoms of COVID-19, let alone the fact that we know we’ve got some level of cases that are asymptomatic.”

While fans are barred from the Orlando site, the company has permitted entry to some family and friends of personnel.

“These individuals were required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the closed set at our training facility and were kept apart from inring performers and production personnel,” the company said in another statement, referring to filming on June 15. “Attendance was below 20 percent capacity, and social distancing guidelines were adhered to with at least six feet between parties. Thus, face masks were not required.”

For WWE’s workforce, masks are required on a closed set when on-air talent are not performing and when they and production staff are unable to meet social-distancing guidelines, according to the company.

WWE has leeway in enforcing mask wearing because of the lack of a statewide mandate in Florida on such personal protective equipment.

In recent months, state officials have made clear their support for WWE. During Florida’s economic shutdown in early spring, the company continued its

production with the backing of an April 9 directive that placed its operations on the state’s list of “essential” services.

Long-term questions

Despite COVID-19’s fastrising toll in Florida, Orlando seems likely to remain the hub of WWE’s production for the foreseeable future. Company officials have not said yet when they might resume their arena entertainment.

Early results suggested that the move to Orlando had not significantly diminished fans’ interest.

The company said it set WrestleMania week viewership records in early April with more than 967 million video views across digital and social platforms, a 20 percent increase from 2019. A record 46 million hours of content were consumed during the week, up 28 percent year over year.

WrestleMania week also contributed to a bump in the total number of subscribers for the WWE Network: Its subscriber base reached 2.1 million on April 6 — up 5 percent from the day after the 2019 WrestleMania.

“Barring a massive plunge in TV ratings, the company would do well to keep some level of production at their current facility,” said Daniel Durbin, director of the University of Southern California’s Institute of Sports, Media and Society. “They can control the venue more fully than massive multi-use arenas. The cost is undoubtedly lower than renting out a multi-use arena. Ratings always tell the story, and this is a case in which I do think, if they keep any sort of decent ratings, the control, security, cost, etc., of their Orlando facility will keep them there.”