The Global Poker Index continue their baby step approach towards the elevation of poker as a form of entertainment by announcing an exciting deal with a top US media brand.
Alex Dreyfus continues his one-man mission to take poker to another planet after the announcement of a new partnership with USA TODAY Sports Media Group.
Details at this time are a little sketchy, but we know that the deal will run for multiple years, and USA TODAY Sports will create an online page for top notch poker content starting January 2016.
Breaking : @USATODAY to become Official Media Partner of Global Poker League @GPL : https://t.co/jT8CNItj9i
— Alexandre Dreyfus (@alex_dreyfus) November 12, 2015
USA Today was founded by Al Neuharthon Sep 15, 1982. The offshoot that is USA TODAY Sports was born in Aug 2010 after a reorganisation saw 130 people made redundant as the company focused its attention on their digital platforms. Sports such as NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Golf, NASCAR, UFC and Fantasy Sports currently dominate the headlines.
Jason Ford, VP of Sports Marketing for the USA TODAY Sports Media group, seems to have his finger on poker’s pulse when he recognised in a press release that ‘the Global Poker Index has done more than any other organization to unify poker.’
Dreyfus has been very smart with the way he has gone about his business. All three of the major live tournament organisers can have their results featured through USA TODAY Sports, but the GPI will always be the conduit.
This week is a prime example.
USA TODAY Sports did feature Joe McKeehen’s $7.6m victory in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Final Table, but in the future that news will be brought to you courtesy of GPI’s affiliation with the WSOP. The same goes for the European Poker Tour (EPT) and World Poker Tour (WPT).
Ford also stated that they are looking forward to ‘providing coverage for some of the groundbreaking events that GPI is launching.’ Given the timing of the deal, we can expect the inaugural Global Poker League (GPL) to be the first event that USA TODAY Sports heavily promotes.
