FTC Bans Non-Compete Agreements - Major Ramifications For Wrestling!

In some news that could have huge ramifications for the pro wrestling industry, the Federal Trade Commission has voted 3-2 in favour of approving a ban on non-compete agreements for all workers in the United States when regulations come into effect in 120 days.

Not just would this mean that all companies wouldn't be allowed to put non-compete clauses in employees' contracts, this ruling would also mean that all such existing agreements already in place would be scrapped or voided.

Interestingly, the WWE and UFC merger to form the TKO Group had to go through FTC approval, so both WWE and UFC would have to comply with this ruling. For WWE, though, any talent who serves a 30-90-day non-compete still gets paid during that period, and wrestlers are technically classed as independent contractors rather than employees, so it's still a little unclear how this ruling would affect wrestlers.

On a wrestling front, the banning of non-competes means a wrestler fired or released by one company would feasibly be able to turn up in a rival promotion the very next day.

It's worth adding, this ruling could still be challenged in court, so it's certainly a situation to keep an eye on.

Away from the wrestling industry, and looking at the wider employment picture, the FTC estimates that 18% of the US workforce have some sort of non-compete in place, which translates to approximately 30 million people.

For those not familiar with non-competes, they prevent an employee from working at certain other companies for a set period of time or even permanently.