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World Series of Poker ups its commercial ante
June 8, 2007
<!-- Article By Line -->BY JOHN G. BROKOPP Gaming Columnist
<!-- Article's First Paragraph -->The 2007 World Series of Poker, which began last Friday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will continue through the middle of July, is not the gambling curiosity and fodder for offbeat wire-service features it once was.
The 38th annual card-playing extravaganza is capitalizing on poker's acceptance into mainstream entertainment, and as such is the object of worldwide attention and media coverage.
When Harrah's Entertainment acquired the brand from the defunct Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas several years ago, it was quick to tap the talents of the company's newly appointed vice president of sports entertainment marketing, Jeffrey Pollack, as the World Series of Poker's first commissioner.
In less than two years, the 1986 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism has led a team that has transformed the WSOP into a marketing juggernaut that is piling up consumer-product sponsorships that will make it very difficult for the tournament to be out of the public eye.
"I think of the WSOP as a 38-year-old start-up," Pollack said. "Until my team's arrival here ... there really weren't any meaningful sponsorship deals in poker. What we have done in the last 20 months is start to reposition the World Series, and really poker as a whole, as a viable, legitimate and high-impact agent of change for consumer product companies."
Pollack brings an impressive background in sports media to the WSOP. Among other positions, including founder of The Sports Business Daily in 1994, he's the former managing director of broadcasting and new media for NASCAR Digital Entertainment and vice president of marketing and communications for the NBA.
"We've cracked the barrier [in sponsorship deals] but we still have a lot of work to do," Pollack said. "The deals aren't as lucrative as they are in the NBA or NASCAR, but we're headed in the right direction."
Pollack is cognizant of the fact that, unlike with his previous experience, the cornerstone of poker is the gambling aspect.
"Over the course of 48 days, we encounter many of the same challenges and opportunities that any sports league faces over the course of an eight- or 10-month season. That said, it is poker, and it is Las Vegas, but we think that's OK. We are what we are and we're very proud of it."
ESPN is covering the tournament from start to finish and producing more than 30 hours of programming that receives high-profile broadcast times, particularly the Main Event, $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship, which starts on July 17.
"Being on ESPN says a lot," Pollack noted. "We are what sports fans like to watch, and while it's not an athletic competition, it's still competition. There's a lot of strategy and a lot of skill." John G. Brokopp is a local free-lance gaming writer.
World Series of Poker ups its commercial ante
June 8, 2007
<!-- Article By Line -->BY JOHN G. BROKOPP Gaming Columnist
<!-- Article's First Paragraph -->The 2007 World Series of Poker, which began last Friday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will continue through the middle of July, is not the gambling curiosity and fodder for offbeat wire-service features it once was.
The 38th annual card-playing extravaganza is capitalizing on poker's acceptance into mainstream entertainment, and as such is the object of worldwide attention and media coverage.
When Harrah's Entertainment acquired the brand from the defunct Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas several years ago, it was quick to tap the talents of the company's newly appointed vice president of sports entertainment marketing, Jeffrey Pollack, as the World Series of Poker's first commissioner.
In less than two years, the 1986 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism has led a team that has transformed the WSOP into a marketing juggernaut that is piling up consumer-product sponsorships that will make it very difficult for the tournament to be out of the public eye.
"I think of the WSOP as a 38-year-old start-up," Pollack said. "Until my team's arrival here ... there really weren't any meaningful sponsorship deals in poker. What we have done in the last 20 months is start to reposition the World Series, and really poker as a whole, as a viable, legitimate and high-impact agent of change for consumer product companies."
Pollack brings an impressive background in sports media to the WSOP. Among other positions, including founder of The Sports Business Daily in 1994, he's the former managing director of broadcasting and new media for NASCAR Digital Entertainment and vice president of marketing and communications for the NBA.
"We've cracked the barrier [in sponsorship deals] but we still have a lot of work to do," Pollack said. "The deals aren't as lucrative as they are in the NBA or NASCAR, but we're headed in the right direction."
Pollack is cognizant of the fact that, unlike with his previous experience, the cornerstone of poker is the gambling aspect.
"Over the course of 48 days, we encounter many of the same challenges and opportunities that any sports league faces over the course of an eight- or 10-month season. That said, it is poker, and it is Las Vegas, but we think that's OK. We are what we are and we're very proud of it."
ESPN is covering the tournament from start to finish and producing more than 30 hours of programming that receives high-profile broadcast times, particularly the Main Event, $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship, which starts on July 17.
"Being on ESPN says a lot," Pollack noted. "We are what sports fans like to watch, and while it's not an athletic competition, it's still competition. There's a lot of strategy and a lot of skill." John G. Brokopp is a local free-lance gaming writer.
