
World Series of Poker champ Joe McKeehen had a $7.68 million payday this week, the WSOP also helping the third-quarter financials for Caesars.
Caesars Acquisition Company (CAC), the investment arm in Caesars Growth Partners (CGP), released its third quarter revenues for 2015 and the outcomes are mixed.
The moms and dad company to Caesars Interactive Entertainment, the World number of Poker and several casinos Planet that is including Hollywood Harrah’s New Orleans, plus the Horseshoe Baltimore, CAC reported total new profits jumped to $601.2 million within the three months finished September 30, a rise of nearly 24 %.
Not all the news was good, CAC also revealing that its income that is net from operations had been simply $20.5 million, a 71 % drop year-on-year.
Caesars Acquisition’s CEO Mitch Garber had no qualms rotating the negatives into positives, saying his company 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 several social gaming internet sites including Bingo Blitz, Slotomania, and Caesars Bingo.
‘Our Interactive Entertainment business continues to build results that are outstanding mainly from our market leading social and mobile games company,’ Garber stated.
Another bright spot in that division is of course the World Series of Poker, the game’s most famous tournament concluding its 46th installment this week in Las Vegas.
World Variety of Poker Holds
In 2014, the November Nine suffered a rather considerable drop in viewership on ESPN for the 2 times of coverage. A total of 1.15 million people tuned set for the finale as Martin Jacobson outlasted Felix Stephensen and finisher that is third-place November Nine start big stack Jorryt Van Hoof.
The lower score in comparison to 2013 when Ryan Reiss survived Jay that is amateur Farber credited to non-Americans playing three-handed, and also three players who competed in rather stoic manners.
In an effort to reignite interest and a larger television audience, ESPN and the WSOP included a third night of November Nine coverage in 2015, and it seems to have at the very least halted the downward trend in poker TV marketability.
Though Sunday’s first night did not crack 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 commanding chip leader Joe McKeehen fend off Josh Beckley and amateur Neil Blumenfield.
‘ I don’t desire to speak for ESPN, but we’re pleased with what we see from the reviews,’ WSOP’s Seth Palansky told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. ‘This is most likely a path forward.’
The WSOP got exactly what it was looking for compared to last year’s event: three Americans, an amateur underdog, and a rather talkative big stack by all accounts.
Needless to say, it didn’t get everything 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 of play with a better than three-to-one chip advantage over Blumenfield and Beckley might have additionally disengaged some viewers who rightly assumed this thing ended up being very long over.
DFS Could be Outlawed By DOJ By End of Year As Rumors Swirl
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 announced illegal at the level that is federal 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 was reported by The Wall Street Journal that the DoJ had begun a study into the business types of the industry’s biggest hitters, after DraftKings’ customers had reportedly been contacted by FBI agents and questioned about their interactions with the company.
The investigation is likely to center around the legal question of whether DFS is exempt, as it claims, from the Unlawful online Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.
‘Cauldron of Constant Betting’
The authors of this act developed a carve-out for fantasy sports at the behest regarding the sports leagues, nevertheless the season-long fantasy sports of 2006 were a world far from DFS as it exists today.
In fact, certainly one of UIGEA’s authors, former Republican Representative for Iowa Jim Leach, publicly denounced DFS not long ago as a ‘cauldron of daily betting,’ and included that there was ‘no credible method fantasy sports betting can be defined as not gambling.’
Based on The New York Post’s source, the DOJ is likely to come calmly to the exact same conclusion, and is likely to ‘take some action before the end of the season.’
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Get
If the source’s claims are accurate, it’s feasible that the DOJ will declare the activity a gambling endeavor in the same bracket as activities wagering, as Nevada has done, which could suggest that only those states with the best to license sports betting, (which are Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon), could theoretically allow their residents to take part in dream sports, and then only by having a regulatory permit.
None of these states have managed online sports gambling, but, because its illegal under the Wire Act, leaving DFS nowhere to go.
Meanwhile, those states which have legalized fantasy recreations 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, will even need certainly to give consideration to their own positions in the light of their 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, for example. The NFL strictly prohibits its employees, players and group owners from participating in or marketing any form of gambling. Meanwhile, both the NBA and MLB have purchased shares in fantasy recreations operators.
Today, DraftKings and FanDuel sued filed lawsuits to challenge the judgment associated with New York attorney general’s office that DFS is illegal in the state and that the two sites must stop 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 rule of law.’
Worldwide Poker Index and USA Sports Partner to ‘Sportify’ Game today
Alexandre Dreyfus gained a partner that is vital their quest to sportify poker, the businessman landing a cope with United States Of America TODAY Sports to cover their upcoming Global Poker League. (Image: pokerlistings.com)
The Global Poker Index (GPI) and United States Of America Sports Media Group are joining strengths in a shared mission to ‘sportify’ the game of poker and revolutionize how it’s played today.
Acquired by online business owner Alexandre Dreyfus in 2012 under his Mediarex sports and entertainment company, the GPI runs TheHendonMob.com, poker’s biggest database into the world, and is set to introduce the Global Poker League (GPL) in very early 2016.
12 franchised teams distribute around the world will encompass the GPL, players ranked in the top 1,000 associated with the GPI offered to be drafted to the five-person rosters.
USA TODAY Sports, a international frontrunner in sports reporting, may help keep tabs on all the latest developments and results.
‘The partnership provides an essential platform to showcase our innovative brand new events also to promote the players rated into the Global Poker Index,’ Dreyfus said in a press launch. ‘It’s great to truly have the support and passion of an industry frontrunner like United States Of America TODAY Sports, whose team shares our vision to ‘sportify’ poker.’
If You Build It…
In theory, Dreyfus’ reasons why you should transform poker into a game that can 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 stays to be seen whether poker fans enjoy watching the overall game up to they enjoy playing it.
Poker’s Super Bowl happened earlier in the day this week, the World Series that is 46th of (WSOP) crowning its $7.68 million champ on Tuesday night. The ESPN broadcast attracted 1,105,000 million viewers, fine for poker but dismal for recreations.
Here’s a look 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 isn’t alone in thinking that poker has the possible to become a attractive sport for casual gamblers and even non-players.
Final July, he secured $4.9 million in funding from outside investors to market and build the GPL.
Additional capital shall be raised through the selling of the 12 franchises, and then preferably ticket product sales to tournaments.
One discussion that arrived up as of this year’s WSOP Main Event had been the idea 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 will likely be followed by an ‘action clock’ that will count down the player’s turn comparable 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 team will need to assign journalists, producers, and creatives that are digital protect the GPL headlines.
‘The Global Poker Index has done more than virtually any company to unify poker,’ USA sports VP Jason Ford said today. ‘we are excited to working together to create a 24/7 digital poker destination.’
