Sports entertainment

Sports entertainment is a colliquial term for professional wrestling that came into prominence in the 1980s, through its use by the World Wrestling Federation and its chairman, Vince McMahon. Use of the term sports entertainment was promoted within the WWF to demarcate itself from athletic contests regulated by athletic commissions. By doing this, the WWF and its wrestlers are able to avoid heavy commission fees and license costs.

Precursors have been found going back to February 1935, when Toronto Star sports editor Lou Marsh described professional wrestling as "sportive entertainment."