No surprise: PPT season 2 DELAYED

olivert · #1 08-16-2006, 11:59 PM

Earl Burton of PokerNews.com first reported this:

http://pokernews.com/news/2006/8/ppt...on-delayed.htm

This is not really much of a surprise.

WPTE CEO Steve Lipscomb responded to a question from Think Equity Partners (San Francisco, CA) equity analyst Tracy Mangini during a conference call on August 2 that WPTE will NOT go forward with PPT Season 2 until WPTE is able to secure a U.S. TV rights fee contract.

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I personally do NOT expect WPTE to EVER get a U.S. TV rights fee contract for PPT Season 2, given how the U.S. TV poker business has evolved: "all time buys, all the time".

Not even Harrah's can get a penny of positive cash flow directly from ESPN for the WSOP Main Event anymore. The advertising dollars Harrah's has to pay ESPN on behalf of PartyGaming and Miller Brewing should more than offset the "rights fee" ESPN has agreed to pay Harrah's for the video rights to the WSOP.

Unfortunately for WPTE, some of the big online poker schools don't particularly want to spend big on title or presenting sponsorships to WPTE events, now that WPTE 1) operates WPTOnline.com outside the US in direct competition against the big online poker businesses, and 2) WPTE does NOT allow any online poker business other than WPTOnline.com to advertise during WPT broadcasts outside the U.S.

Silent A · #2 08-17-2006, 01:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Not even Harrah's can get a penny of positive cash flow directly from ESPN for the WSOP Main Event anymore. The advertising dollars Harrah's has to pay ESPN on behalf of PartyGaming and Miller Brewing should more than offset the "rights fee" ESPN has agreed to pay Harrah's for the video rights to the WSOP.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you explain this? Why does Harrah's have to pay anything to ESPN?

BostonMetro · #3 08-17-2006, 01:40 PM

I always laugh when they announce that players have three-year tour cards. A lot of good that will do them seeing as there will never be another PPT event EVER. That said, each title is without a DOUBT! THE! MOST! PRESTIGIOUS! TITLE! IN! POK! E! R!

olivert · #4 08-17-2006, 01:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Not even Harrah's can get a penny of positive cash flow directly from ESPN for the WSOP Main Event anymore. The advertising dollars Harrah's has to pay ESPN on behalf of PartyGaming and Miller Brewing should more than offset the "rights fee" ESPN has agreed to pay Harrah's for the video rights to the WSOP.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you explain this? Why does Harrah's have to pay anything to ESPN?

[/ QUOTE ]

The financial risk burden for the WSOP TV product has been shifted from ESPN to Harrah's.

The old contract:

1. ESPN pays cash to Harrah's for the "rights fee"
2. ESPN sells advertising to PartyGaming, Miller Brewing, Toyota, Levitra, Degree, etc. in order to recoup the rights fee and the production cost.

The new contract:

1. ESPN still designates a "rights fee" in the contract, but does not actually pay Harrah's any cash.

2. Harrah's now sell "integrated" sponsorship and "product placement" to Miller Brewing and PartyGaming, which include logos on tables, overhead banners at the Rio Pavilion, inflatable displays in the hallway, beer tents, seat cushions with logos, and most importantly, TV ads.

3. Harrah's pays ESPN for the TV ads on behalf of Miller Brewing and PartyGaming.

The amount Harrah's pays ESPN on behalf of Miller and PartyGaming more than offsets the "rights fee" and the production cost.

In effect, Harrah's is now paying ESPN to put the WSOP on ESPN. ESPN doesn't have to put one penny of cash at risk with the new WSOP TV deal.

That's how one can disguise what is effectively a "TV time buy" deal as a "rights fee" contract.

Rottersod · #5 08-17-2006, 02:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I always laugh when they announce that players have three-year tour cards. A lot of good that will do them seeing as there will never be another PPT event EVER. That said, each title is without a DOUBT! THE! MOST! PRESTIGIOUS! TITLE! IN! POK! E! R!

[/ QUOTE ]

and the players will fight like they are in a barroom brawl to win it!!!!!

ed8383 · #6 08-17-2006, 04:47 PM

Is this another sign that TV poker is close to dying?

olivert · #7 08-17-2006, 04:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Is this another sign that TV poker is close to dying?

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I have NEVER written that TV poker is "dying".

TV poker has certainly "matured" and "evolved" into its current form: "infomercials" for online poker businesses.

Online poker marketing money now pays for practically every TV poker project, one way or another, with the exception of WPTE TV products.

BostonMetro · #8 08-17-2006, 05:45 PM

I think it's a sign that the overlay you give to get the top pros to show up to these events doesn't match the money you can make off of airing them. Having one name pro and nine unknowns at a table will fetch just as many viewers as having nine name pros and one unknown - even though the people on this site would rather watch the former ten times as much as the latter.

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but if the WPT would just pay the tourney juice for "name players" it would give them a nice overlay and compensate to some degree for the crappy release and poor late-event structures.

Self Made · #9 08-17-2006, 06:48 PM

Doesn't High Stakes Poker still get a rights fee?

CaryDarling · #10 08-17-2006, 07:36 PM

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Having one name pro and nine unknowns at a table will fetch just as many viewers as having nine name pros and one unknown -

[/ QUOTE ]
That is quite untrue. One of the members of the Wednesday Discussion group here in Vegas is a writer who is heavy into the tv scene of poker. He's always at the HSP tapings etc., he knows a lot of the dish going on behind the scenes.

Anyway, just so I could clarify that this is not coming from me, and I can't quote you exact numbers every poker show *this was pre HSP 1* was losing viewership steadily, with the exception of Poker Superstars and Celebrity Poker Showdown...the consensus of producers, behind the scenes big wigs etc, was that this was due to the "unknown player" factor.

when you tune into Poker Superstars, you are seeing exactly that...superstars. When tuning into Celebrity Poker Showdown, you aren't seeing either celebrities or poker, but they are familiar faces...while on the other hand you tune into WPT, you may have a pro make the FT, but that could be a Pro only those who are heavy fans, or followers of the game might recognize...the whole argument actually made sense.

I personally can't stand to watch shows like Poker Dome, or anything amateur related. My motto has always been, if I want to watch a bunch of unknowns play bad poker for two hours I will just hit one of the 59 local card rooms, at least then, I can make money off of them. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]