
World Series of Poker champ Joe McKeehen had a $7.68 million payday this week, the WSOP additionally helping the financials that are third-quarter Caesars.
Caesars Acquisition Company (CAC), the investment arm in Caesars Growth Partners (CGP), released its third quarter revenues for 2015 and the results are mixed.
The parent company to Caesars Interactive Entertainment, the World group of Poker and several casinos Planet that is including Hollywood Harrah’s New Orleans, therefore the Horseshoe Baltimore, CAC reported total new revenues jumped to $601.2 million in the three months finished September 30, an increase of nearly 24 percent.
Not most of the news ended up being positive, CAC also revealing that its web income from continuing operations had been simply $20.5 million, a 71 % drop year-on-year.
Caesars Acquisition’s CEO Mitch Garber had no qualms spinning the negatives into positives, saying their organization remains ‘encouraged by the strong performance of our assets.’
Interactive Stays Active
The highlight of Q3 filing by CAC was again its Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) supply, the division reporting $194.5 million in net revenues, a 20.4 percent yield compared to Q3 2014.
CIE is responsible for the WSOP brand name along with Caesars Palace Las Vegas and many gaming that is social including Bingo Blitz, Slotomania, and Caesars Bingo.
‘Our Interactive Entertainment business continues to come up with outstanding results, primarily from our market leading social and mobile games company,’ Garber said.
Another bright spot in that division is of course the World Series of Poker, the overall game’s most famous tournament concluding its 46th installment this week in Las Vegas.
World Series of Poker Holds
In 2014, the November Nine suffered a rather considerable fall in viewership on ESPN for the 2 times of coverage. A total of 1.15 million people tuned in for the finale as Martin Jacobson outlasted Felix Stephensen and finisher that is third-place November Nine beginning big stack Jorryt Van Hoof.
The reduced score in comparison to 2013 when Ryan Reiss survived amateur Jay Farber ended up being credited to non-Americans playing three-handed, and also three players whom competed in rather stoic manners.
In an effort to reignite interest and a larger television audience, ESPN and the WSOP added a third night of November Nine coverage in 2015, and it seemingly have at the very least halted the downward trend in poker TV marketability.
Though Sunday’s first night did not split the Nielsen’s top 100 cable programs, its finale on Tuesday landed smack in the middle at #50 with 1.147 million viewers tuning in at 9:30 pm to watch chip that is commanding Joe McKeehen fend off Josh Beckley and amateur Neil Blumenfield.
‘ I don’t want to speak for ESPN, but we are pleased with what we see through the ratings,’ WSOP’s Seth Palansky told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. ‘This is probably a path forward.’
By all accounts, the WSOP got what it really ended up being looking for compared to last year’s occasion: three Americans, an amateur underdog, and a fairly talkative big stack.
Of course, it didn’t get every thing it sought as having finisher that is 11th-place Negreanu reach the Niner would have paid enormous dividends.
McKeehen’s gigantic lead, beginning Tuesday night’s play by having a a lot better than three-to-one chip advantage over Blumenfield and Beckley could have also disengaged some people who rightly assumed this thing was long over.
DFS Could be Outlawed By DOJ By End of as Rumors Swirl year
DFS stakeholder: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft holds equity in DFS site DraftKings. (Image Kevin C. Cox / Getty NA)
Day-to-day fantasy sports (DFS) could soon be declared illegal at the federal degree by the Department of Justice (DOJ), in accordance with a Washington DC-based unnamed source who spoke to The New York Post this week.
In mid-October, it absolutely was reported by The Wall Street Journal that the DoJ had begun an investigation into the business types of the industry’s biggest hitters, after DraftKings’ customers had reportedly been contacted by FBI agents and questioned about the company to their interactions.
The investigation is probably to center around the legal question of whether DFS is exempt, as it claims, from the Unlawful Web Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.
‘Cauldron of Day-to-day Betting’
The authors of this act developed a carve-out for fantasy sports at the behest for the sports leagues, but the fantasy that is season-long of 2006 were some sort of away from DFS as it exists today.
In fact, one of UIGEA’s authors, previous Republican Representative for Iowa Jim Leach, publicly denounced DFS not long ago as a ‘cauldron of daily betting,’ and added that there was ‘no credible method dream sports betting can be described as not gambling.’
In accordance with The New York Post’s supply, the DOJ is likely to come quickly to the conclusion that is same and it is expected to ‘take some action ahead of the end of the year.’
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Get
In the event that source’s claims are accurate, it’s possible that the DOJ will declare the activity a gambling endeavor in the same bracket as sports gambling, as Nevada has done, which could suggest that only those states with the best to license sports gambling, (which are Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon), could theoretically allow their residents to take part in dream activities, and then only having a regulatory permit.
None of these states have controlled online sports wagering, nonetheless, because its illegal under the Wire Act, making DFS nowhere to go.
Meanwhile, those states which have legalized dream sports and declared it to not be a game f opportunity, such as Kansas did earlier this may have to rethink their stance year.
The major sports leagues, many of whom are stakeholders within the DFS industry, may also need certainly to start thinking about their very own positions in the light of the opposition that is vocal to gambling.
New York Lawsuit
Both Robert Kraft, whom owns the New England Patriots, and Jerry Jones, owner for the Dallas Cowboys, both have equity in DraftKings, as an example. The NFL strictly forbids its employees, players and team owners from taking part in or marketing any style of gambling. Meanwhile, both the NBA and MLB have bought shares in fantasy recreations operators.
Today, DraftKings and FanDuel sued filed legal actions to challenge the judgment associated with nyc attorney general’s office that DFS is illegal in the state and that the 2 sites must cease their operations there.
DraftKings stated in its lawsuit that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s decision amounted to ‘strong-arm tactics’ that were ‘defying the guideline of law.’
International Poker Index and USA TODAY Sports Partner to ‘Sportify’ Game
Alexandre Dreyfus gained a partner that is vital his quest to sportify poker, the businessman landing a handle United States Of America TODAY Sports to cover their future Global Poker League. (Image: pokerlistings.com)
The worldwide Poker Index (GPI) and USA TODAY Sports Media Group are joining strengths in a shared mission to ‘sportify’ the overall game of poker and revolutionize how it’s played.
Acquired by Internet entrepreneur Alexandre Dreyfus in 2012 under his Mediarex sports and entertainment company, the GPI runs TheHendonMob.com, poker’s database that is largest within the world, and is set to introduce the Global Poker League (GPL) in very early 2016.
12 franchised groups spread all over the world will encompass the GPL, players ranked into the top 1,000 of the GPI open to be drafted to the rosters that are five-person.
USA TODAY Sports, a worldwide frontrunner in sports reporting, will help keep tabs on all the latest developments and results.
‘The partnership will provide a platform that is essential showcase our innovative new events and to market the players rated into the Global Poker Index,’ Dreyfus stated in a press launch. ‘It’s great to have the support and passion of an industry leader like USA TODAY Sports, whose team shares our vision to ‘sportify’ poker.’
If You Build It…
In theory, Dreyfus’ reasons to transform poker into a game that will be marketed and digested on similar lines to professional sports makes sense. Poker’s origins date straight back to long before many of the world’s favorite sports had been created.
It remains to be seen whether poker fans enjoy watching the game as much as they enjoy playing it.
Poker’s Super Bowl occured early in the day this week, the 46th World Series of Poker (WSOP) crowning its $7.68 million champion on Tuesday night. The ESPN broadcast attracted 1,105,000 million viewers, fine for poker but dismal for sports.
Here’s a appearance during the other big four sports audiences in 2015:
Super Bowl: 114.5 million
World Series, Game 5: 17.2 million
NBA Finals, Game 6: 23.25 million
Stanley Cup, Game 6: 8 million
Going All-In
Dreyfus is not alone in thinking that poker has the potential to become a attractive sport for casual gamblers and even non-players.
Final July, he secured $4.9 million in capital from outside investors to promote and build the GPL.
Extra capital shall be raised from the selling of the 12 franchises, and then ideally ticket product sales to tournaments.
One discussion that arrived up at this year’s WSOP Main Event was the notion of implementing a play clock. The GPL will play heads-up and six-handed matches with set time limits of 30 to 45 minutes per level to make the game more engaging for audiences.
Each hand is followed by an ‘action clock’ that will count the player down’s turn similar to speed chess or perhaps the NBA.
Though terms of the partnership weren’t disclosed, it’s apparent USA TODAY Sports is also buying into Dreyfus’ blueprint. The media group will need to assign reporters, manufacturers, and creatives that are digital cover the GPL headlines.
‘The Global Poker Index has done more than virtually any company to unify poker,’ United States Of America sports VP Jason Ford said today. ‘We’re excited to working together to create a 24/7 digital poker location.’
