World Wrestling Entertainment, a Stamford-based company that is being investigated by the Connecticut Department of Labor for alleged misclassification of employees as independent contractors, is a significant beneficiary of a tax credit program to lure television and movie production to the state.
A study of these film tax subsidy programs in 43 states, undertaken by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, concluded that they were bad investments, according to an article about the study in the Hartford Business Journal. See “CT, other states’ film credits panned,” http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news15646.html.
See also the comments of Connecticut’s governor-elect, Dan Malloy, in today’s Stamford Advocate, “Malloy says ‘jury still out’ on whether film tax credits worth it,” http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Malloy-says-jury-is-still-out-on-whether-film-819329.php.
According to its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the publicly traded WWE received $6.1 million in film tax credits in the last quarter. These revenues are not broken down state-by-state, but the bulk surely came from Connecticut and Louisiana (where WWE’s film division shoots low-budget movies that go quickly or directly to video). WWE also is believed to receive film tax subsidies from some states where it travels to shoot its weekly Raw and Smackdown TV shows.
Irv Muchnick
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