The ongoing situation with COVID-19 has rocked the wrestling world, affecting everyone from small promotions to even WWE and Court Bauer describes how MLW's business has been affected.
In an interview with MLW.com, Bauer spoke on how the coronavirus outbreak has affected MLW and everyone involved with the day-to-day operations. Bauer gave a detailed explanation as to how much MLW has been affected, especially with its wrestlers and programming strategies.
"As we all sit at home doing our part to not spread this virus, we need distractions. We need to escape. I hope MLW can play a part in that with what we offer our fans during these hard times. On the business end, it’s fluid. I mean, I’d imagine almost every business is experiencing some form of disruption. Even if it is business as normal here, the company you’re engaging may have a different situation. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some unexpected opportunities. Beyond the disruption to live events, we had a few athletes slated to compete in Japan, Europe and Mexico, which is now delayed. Some of that complicates programming strategies, but it’s more of a postponement than anything. For some in our locker room, it was their first tour and that is heartbreaking, but I expect everything will continue as planned upon a return to normalcy. Operationally having to hit pause on temporarily promoting live events was inevitable. The question was just when with that question shifting to: for how long? Promoting events takes up operational bandwidth which we now have redirected towards other priorities and opportunities," Bauer said.
Bauer also said the health safety of his employees is important and that the past few weeks have given him a brand new perspective on things. Bauer said he is currently looking to expand MLW's "domestic content offerings" and has been working hard in securing international television deals for Fusion.
"As for the nuts and bolts of our business, we’ve had time to continue discussions to expand our domestic content offerings, plus focus on some ambitious projects as well as growing our global footprint. These are always priorities but right now we’ve been able to make significant progress on these fronts," Bauer said.
The full interview can be read at this link.
