WWE sheds loss amid report it's pursuing legal betting on scripted matches

World Wrestling Entertainment stock (NYSE:WWE) jumped from a loss into positive ground to finish Wednesday's session up 0.4% alongside a report that the company has talked with state gambling regulators to legalize betting on its (scripted) matches.

The company is in discussions with watchdogs in Colorado and Michigan in an attempt to legalize wagering, even though its match outcomes are predetermined, CNBC reported.

And it's taking an approach similar to that which already applies to entertainment awards such as the Academy Awards. Oscar winners are known beforehand to accounting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers, and betting on those results is legal in some (but not most) areas.

For its part, WWE is working with EY on a similar effort to secure match results in order to make the betting safe. What about the wrestlers? They wouldn't be clued in to whether they were winning or losing until just before a match, according to the report.

Even if legalized, betting companies would need to decide whether to place odds on WWE events (while the Oscars results are known beforehand, they're not scripted as WWE results are).

One example CNBC cited was WWE locking in the results of WrestleMania's main event months ahead of time (pegged off of January's Royal Rumble), then taking bets between January and just before WrestleMania, at which point wrestlers and producers would learn the results.