No 2006 Monte Carlo Millions?

[Whitewash]

Anyone know if there are any plans for a 2006 MCM? MonteCarloMillions.com is no longer around, and Prima has not had any news release relating to a possible event.

It'd be a shame if they aren't continuing this.

[Kevmath]

I'll go with the FSN wanted Prima to pay for them to broadcast the event route. I'm sure Oliver can provide his usual details of why this isn't happening.

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll go with the FSN wanted Prima to pay for them to broadcast the event route. I'm sure Oliver can provide his usual details of why this isn't happening.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bingo.

Microgaming/Prima Poker had to get rid of Monte Carlo Million, which has virtually no chance of getting any TV rights fees in the US market going forward.

The future of TV poker in the US, according to one source with knowledge of the NewsCorp/FSN philosophy, is "all (time) buys".

Why should the likes of FSN take any more risks by paying rights fees when several online poker "schools" are willing to pay premiums, in some cases more than $500,000 a week (i.e. MansionPoker.NET, PartyPoker.NET), for TV time and production cost in the US market alone?

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I do NOT expect any more poker tournaments other than the WSOP to be offered TV rights fees in the US in the future.

(And yes, that would include the WPT if The Travel Channel were to ever walk away.)

Harrah's currently does NOT have a US TV contract for the 2006-2007 WSOP Circuit. At this point, I don't expect Harrah's to get a rights fee deal for the WSOP Circuit, especially after Harrah's has made the decision to reposition the WSOP Circuit to target "regional pros".

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The Trump US Poker Championship (USPC) got a 5-year rights fee deal with ESPN in 2004 at the peak of the TV poker fad.

The 2005 USPC averaged 550,000 households, for a 0.50% broadcast equivalent TV rating, on ESPN this past May-June, with no promotion whatsoever by ESPN.

The USPC is still good TV poker, but the writing is pretty much on the wall for that TV product given that ESPN doesn't bother promoting it at all.

[wiz_apprentice]

oliver,

if you had bothered going to the ESPN website, you would know that the rights for the WSOP have been renewed until 2010. This article posted on the ESPN since June 9th, 2006, states that the deal includes PPV of the FT of the ME, circuit championships, bracelet championships and the entire main event on ESPN as well as content and preview episodes on ESPN360 (broadband) and coverage on ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker...ory?id=2476712

Why can't you JUST answer the question on the "No '06 Monte Carlo Millions"? Your rants on TV poker are getting tiresome. Instead you continue to attack the WPT and WSOP when, the thread is NOT about either of these shows.

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
oliver,

if you had bothered going to the ESPN website, you would know that the rights for the WSOP have been renewed until 2010. This article posted on the ESPN since June 9th, 2006, states that the deal includes PPV of the FT of the ME, circuit championships, bracelet championships and the entire main event on ESPN as well as content and preview episodes on ESPN360 (broadband) and coverage on ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker...ory?id=2476712

Why can't you JUST answer the question on the "No '06 Monte Carlo Millions"? Your rants on TV poker are getting tiresome. Instead you continue to attack the WPT and WSOP when, the thread is NOT about either of these shows.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you had bothered to read my interview article with WSOP Commissioner Jeffery Pollack, you would have learned that ESPN's new TV contract for the WSOP does NOT include the WSOP Circuit:

http://pokerbiz411.com/2006/07/31/harrahslowersfee.aspx

You also misread the ESPN press release, which mentioned the WSOP, but NOT the WSOP Circuit.

The WSOP Circuit was specifically excluded from the new TV contract.

ESPN simply didn't want to pay a rights fee for the WSOP Circuit.

I have been trying to pound this into people's heads:

Other than the WSOP itself, TV networks in the US don't want to pay TV rights fees anymore for other poker products.

There is no reason for TV networks in the US to pay any more rights fees for anything other than the WSOP because the likes of MansionPoker.NET and PartyPoker.NET are willing to spend more than $500,000 a week to buy TV time.

Next time, please read more carefully before posting an attack. You are now looking incredibly stupid for being completely wrong.

[Dids]

"Why can't you JUST answer the question on the "No '06 Monte Carlo Millions"? Your rants on TV poker are getting tiresome. Instead you continue to attack the WPT and WSOP when, the thread is NOT about either of these shows."

Somebody asked him to provide information and you're hating on him for giving more?

Lame, imo.

[cogger]

In my opinion the Micro Gaming Poker Network should still consider it for free based just for the exposure provided FSN was not airing sponsors from their competitors during any duration of the MCM event on the air.

[olivert]

Going back to the WSOP, the new Harrah's/ESPN TV deal is basically a "time buy" that is cleverly disguised as a rights fee deal.

Nominally, ESPN pays Harrah's N Million a year in rights fee, N being somewhere around 10, give or take a million or two.

However, Harrah's sold an "official" WSOP sponsorship to Miller Brewing believed to be on the order of $12-15 million a year, and Harrah's did a product placement deal with PartyGaming that is reportedly worth $10 million a year.

Assuming the usual and customary 50-50 revenue split between ESPN and Harrah's, ESPN's share of the Million Brewing and PartyGaming deals would be on the order of $11-12 million a year.

That means Harrah's is effectively paying ESPN to put the WSOP on ESPN, not the other way around.

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The future of TV poker in the US is definitely "all time buys, all the time".

That means WPTE has virtually no chance of getting a US TV rights fee for the PPT.

That also means WPTE has virtually no chance of getting a US TV rights fee for the WPT should Discovery Communications/The Travel Channel were to ever decide to walk away from the current deal by declining a year-to-year option.

[KDawg]

[ QUOTE ]

That also means WPTE has virtually no chance of getting a US TV rights fee for the WPT should Discovery Communications/The Travel Channel were to ever decide to walk away from the current deal by declining a year-to-year option.

[/ QUOTE ]



what is the likelyhood of this happening as it seems that the WPTE-Discovery/Travel Channel relationship has been rather contempous at times. How well does the WPT beat other travel channel programs when it comes to ratings

[NickMPK]

I don't understand why there just isn't a "poker channel" to show all the events that aren't the WSOP Main Event. I get a tennis channel, horse racing channel, car racing channel, and golf channel. All of them show minor events all the time that aren't big enough draws to merit prime time coverage on a big network. Just like the USPC and WSOP Circuit aren't big enough draws to really merit prime time slots on ESPN, but should attract an enough of an audience for a niche network.