Interesting Indicators - The Poker Boom Spin-Offs
Published: Friday, August 05, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
INTERESTING INDICATORS - THE POKER BOOM SPIN-OFFS
The online poker boom spin-offs
MarketWatch gave examples of some poker spin-offs that underline the size and power of the poker juggernaut currently showing no sign of slowing down.
The publication pointed out that extensive TV, radio and print coverage of the game has resulted in:
* Purses and player counts in the 2005 World Series of Poker more than doubled from the previous year.
* To accommodate the throngs of participants and spectators alike, Harrah's Entertainment had to move the event to its Rio resort, just off the Strip.
* The U.S. Playing Card Company produced more than 1 billion poker chips in the last three years - nearly half of them in the past year alone. Sales of chip sets increased tenfold, hitting $10 million in 2004.
* Worldwide online poker revenue jumped to more than $1 billion last year, up from $365 million in 2003 and is expected to hit $2.4 billion this year, according to Christiansen Capital Advisors.
* Bluff Magazine launched last fall with a circulation of 90,000, a figure that has since more than tripled.
MarketWatch comments that the game, long seen as a pastime for "old folks" or an occasional night out, has finally hit it big with people of all ages and demographic profiles.
"Ten years ago, the average demographic of a casino poker room was 60-to-dead," said Todd Steele, chief financial officer of WPT Enterprises Inc. "There has been a complete transformation of the sport."
In its first season in early 2003, the tour had 1,400 players with $12 million in prize money, a figure that has since ballooned to 7,200 players and $70 million in prize money. Last December, during what Steele called "the Poker Christmas," its branded products chalked up $40 million in retail sales alone.
Poker's popularity has spawned a retail revolution in merchandising, too with tables, books, apparel and DVDs. In addition, WPT has licensed its name for candy, clocks, a videogame from Take-Two Interactive Software - even Zippo lighters. Building on Americans' desire to play for high stakes, the company runs a lucrative poker "boot camp," charging world champion wannabes $1,500 for a two day course in how to play with the pros.
Aware of the trend, some marketers are seeking to hitch a ride on the card craze.
Canadian Club whiskey, recently acquired by Fortune Brands as part of the break-up and sell-off of Allied Domecq, is using a poker theme to attract younger consumers.
The program was designed after examining and rejecting several other sports and leisure tie-ins, said brand manger Susan Kilgore.
"Poker was the best fit for a number of reasons," she said. "It is very hot, with over 50 million people playing it on a regular basis. And its also doesn't alienate our current customer - male, 45-plus years old."
Eric Morris, publisher of Bluff, said his magazine is garnering ad money not only from makers of poker paraphernalia and online gambling operators, along with Harrah's and MGM Mirage, but mainline companies including Oakley, Disney's, ESPN (which broadcasts the World Series of Poker), and Activision Inc.
"The mainstream companies are really starting to take an interest now. It is like dial-a-deal," he said. "We are sold out of advertising through November."
