The term sports entertainment was coined by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) chairman Vince McMahon during the 1980s as a marketing term to describe the industry of professional wrestling, primarily to potential advertisers, although precursors date back to February 1935, when Toronto Star sports editor Lou Marsh described professional wrestling as "sportive entertainment". In 1989, the WWF used the phrase in a case it made to the New Jersey Senate for classifying professional wrestling as "sports entertainment" and thus not subject to regulation like a directly competitive sport.
The term sports entertainment was coined by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF now WWE) chairman Vince McMahon during the 1980s as a marketing term to describe the industry of professional wrestling primarily to potential advertisers although precursors date back to February 1935 when Toronto Star sports editor Lou Marsh described professional wrestling as "sportive entertainment" In 1989 the WWF used the phrase in a case it made to the New Jersey Senate for classifying professional wrestling as "sports entertainment" and thus not subject to regulation like a directly competitive sport