WPT Busto! Could WPT Go Bust Over the Next Few Years?!!

[gaboonviper]

Continuing from my post of yesterday, we must now go into more detail about why the WPT could go bust over the next few years:

1.) UIGEA has caused online pokersite sponsorship for the show to go way way down. And it is only a matter of time before Stars and Tilt are forced to leave the US market,

2.) Ratings for the show have plunged over the past two years. This is beacause; a. there is more competition from other tv poker i.e. GSN, and b. people are just getting board of the same old final table all in nutfest crap, and poker in general,

3.) The WPT online poker room has been a big fat flop,

4.) Mike Sexton will probably retire soon and I cannot think of anyone who could do the job nearly as well as him,

5.) Replacing Shana was one of the most stupid mistakes WPT could have made. None of the new girls are anywhere near as appealing as Shana was. Believe me, quite a few viewers watched the show beacause of Shana, not the poker,

6.) PPT completely failed,

7.) WPT is being sued by many of the top pros including Lederer, Hachem, Raymer and a few others. I do not know what the current status of the case is but certainly this is a slap in the face to WPT,

8.) As UIGEA continues to kick in, interest in poker will keep going down and down,

9.) As I noted yesterday, WPT has NOT reached an agreement with Travel Channel for season 7 broadcast rights. The deadline they set was March 10, but they had to extend it to April 1. If WPT gets dumped by Travel, and they could beacause season 7 is for year 2009, then WPT is really cooked. Remember, season 7 will not be broadcast until 2009 and imagine where poker will be by then considering how fast it is imploding post UIGEA,

10.) WPTE Enterprises stock price has plunged from a 7/8/05 high of $24.35 to a current $4.37. So Wall Street is not too thrilled with the future of the company.

BOTTOM LINE: Yes WPT could go Busto over the next few years. Will they? We shall see.

[Jetto]

I jeard that abunch of pros where sueing it..but Is the cause unknown?

[sputum]

[ QUOTE ]
Will they? We shall see.

[/ QUOTE ]
I read all of that and you don't know? [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Maybe tomorrow's epistle? Can chart the pre and post Shana WPT goodness/suckiness trend? For our intellectation? Maybe?

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[dlk9s]

Wow, Gaboon's analysis is earth shattering.

The WPT has been struggling for a couple years now. The recent financial reports are nothing new.

[Svarog]

Let's see, the prize pools are covered by the buyins, and the production costs must not be that large (compared to scripted TV shows, for example)... how could they lose money year after year?

[Army Eye]

Pretty sure Shana left on her own accord. Overall a lot of good points though.

[sonofstev]

Sabina is awesome.

[stephenNUTS]

Shana was about to become a "new" MOM,and when she needed that hiatus the WPT decided to find a new girl,,,,,and then another,,,,and then,,,,,,.Whether she left on her own accord or the WPT is unknown to me???

As the previous OP stated though,I believe a very LARGE percenatge of the non-poker crowd as well as poker players in general loved her and the ratings of those early shows had something to do with her

All IMHO,
~stephen

[gaboonviper]

Shana was FIRED from WPT-- she did not quit.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

[ QUOTE ]
Shana was FIRED from WPT-- she did not quit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe nobody on the outside knows it all, but according to the lawsuit filed by Shana, she quit the WPT because they were presenting her with a hostile workplace environment, and she was being harrassed by Steve Lipscomb and another top executive of the WPT. Not sexual harrassment, but emotional harrassment, according to her complaint.

No surprise to me if Shana's side of the story is 100% accurate.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)