Full Tilt to go ahead and sign every player?

[LongBall42]

Is there even any competition in sponsorships anymore?

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there even any competition in sponsorships anymore?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you are talking about the U.S. market, no. The competition simply left the market to concentrate on growth in new markets.

PokerStars.net cut its U.S. marketing budget to practically ZERO after the NETELLER fiasco in January.

AbsolutePoker.net/UltimateBet.net terminated endorsement contracts of its U.S. players in April.

--

There is one new online poker marketing initiative in the U.S. that launched last weekend: ESPN Club de Poker is running a series of Spanish-language freerolls to award one WSOP Main Event seat to a Spanish-speaking sports fan who watches ESPN Deportes and/or uses ESPNDeportes.com.

--

Now if you are talking about sponsorship of players who are NOT U.S. citizens and have language skills that are in demand, there is plenty of activity.

Germany is one market that is red hot right now. PokerStars has Katja Thater and Sebastian Ruthenberg under contract. 888.com has Michael Keiner. BetFair has Thomas Bihl.

Spain is a market that will likely explode in 2008. FullTiltPoker.net already has its Spanish-speaking player under a sponsorship deal: Juan Carlos Mortensen.

Poland and Russia may also explode in 2008.

FullTiltPoker.net is already active in Russia, with its sponsorship of the FullTiltPoker.net poker room at Casino Cosmos in Moscow, where the Moscow Millions will be held this October.

The biggest name in the Poland poker market, Maciek "Michael" Gracz, is currently a free agent and is holding out (allegedly due to family issues.) He changed his mind last month and chose not to sign with me as his agent to pursue a "Tier 1" sponsorship deal on his behalf.

I don't know yet about Italy, although both PokerStars.net (Luga Pagano) and FullTiltPoker.net (Max Pescatori, Marco Traniello, and John Cernuto) have already signed Italian-speaking players.

[El Diablo]

oliver,

Excellent post, you bring up a lot of good points. Based on this post, I suspect you specialize in the European market. However, a big market you neglect to mention is the Asian market, and specifically the Chinese gambling market. This is a very new market right now, but a huge one, and if you're serious about this business I'd definitely encourage you to learn about the online gambling market opportunities there.

[JoaoPinto]

The Chinese market will never take off. Quit advising the guy to waste his time.

[HorridSludgyBits]

[ QUOTE ]
oliver,

Excellent post, you bring up a lot of good points. Based on this post, I suspect you specialize in the European market. However, a big market you neglect to mention is the Asian market, and specifically the Chinese gambling market. This is a very new market right now, but a huge one, and if you're serious about this business I'd definitely encourage you to learn about the online gambling market opportunities there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh oh, here it comes.... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[dudemanjack]

Macao, a Chinese Island off the coast of Hong Kong has already surpassed Vegas as the world's biggest gambling center.

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/ma...9990001?cid=403

[pizarro1]

From what I understand, asians, and in particular Chinese people, don't like card games such as poker.

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
oliver,

Excellent post, you bring up a lot of good points. Based on this post, I suspect you specialize in the European market. However, a big market you neglect to mention is the Asian market, and specifically the Chinese gambling market. This is a very new market right now, but a huge one, and if you're serious about this business I'd definitely encourage you to learn about the online gambling market opportunities there.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are just baiting me, aren't you?

I wrote an unpublished article last September when I was still a freelance poker writer. I didn't become an agent until last October when I signed my first client (now a former client, unfortunately), a Mandarin Chinese-speaking female pro who ultimately accepted a deal I negotiated on her behalf with FullTiltPoker.net.

http://olivertsepoker.com/China.aspx

I posted the following in a different thread over at "Tournament Circuit". The "China problem" has given plenty of people in the poker industry, including myself, many sleepless nights in the past 6 months. In the short term, I have no choice but to look to new markets in Europe for clients.

------------------------------

There are huge obstacles to getting any major televised poker tournament off the ground in Asia, namely GOVERNMENT-RUN or GOVERNMENT-LICENSED gambling monopolies.

Those government-run or government-licensed gambling monopolies in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, The Philippines etc. etc. etc. are all protecting their turf.

One reason why the anticipated World Poker Tour (WPT) event at the new MGM Grand in Macau has been delayed indefinitely: the government-licensed gambling monopoly in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), told WPTE that it will do everything it can to BLOCK the telecast of any poker tournament being held in Macau to be aired on any TV network in Hong Kong as long as WPTE does not have a business partnership agreement with the HKJC.

Bottom line: poker will eventually air in Hong Kong, but only at the pleasure of the HKJC. That means the HKJC, and only the HKJC, will eventually monopolize online and televised poker in Hong Kong, either with a partner or on its own.

Also, WPTE was kicked out of Singapore. The Singapore Media Development Authority (MDA) voided the TV contract between WPTE and Mediacorp because WPTE does NOT have a license from the Singapore Gambling Supression Board (GSB), which currently has a 100% monopoly on legalized gambling in Singapore.

The two poker events in Asia last November, the APPT in the Philippines and the APT in Singapore, were only televised locally because the government-run or government-licensed gambling monopolies in other countries ganged up with the local media authorities to block cross-border poker telecasts.

(BetFair had planned to put the Singapore APT event on Discovery Channel throughout Asia. The telecasts never aired outside Singapore because media regulators around Asia blocked the telecasts. The APT did have a license from the Singapore GSB so the Singapore MDA approved the telecast within Singapore ONLY.)

Ultimately, there will be successful major televised poker tourneys in many parts of Asia, but I anticipate that they will be run by the government monopolies, with cross-border telecasts to be negotiated on an event-by-event basis by the government monopolies via cross-border reciprocal agreements.

As for mainland China: everybody and his brother and sister (PartyPoker.net, FullTiltPoker.net, World Poker Tour, etc.) have been talking to the Chinese government in the past 6 months.

The one route that is being explored by the online and televised poker industry to "open up" the mainland China market is the same route that was successfully taken to open up Russia: to convince the China State General Administration for Sport (www.sport.gov.cn) that Poker should be classified as a recreational "sport" the way Bridge, Chess, Billards, and Darts are currently classified in China.

Government agencies in China currently have a 100% monopoly on legalized gambling in China (welfare lotteries, sports betting parlay cards, keno, etc.)

[Assani Fisher]

If I go ahead an inform them I'm a pro, will they put my name in red? I think they will.