The World Poker Tour brand or WPT is probably the most popular series of poker tournaments in the world. There have been rumors that the company might be trying to sell as they’ve released information deemed as confidential to interested parties.
One possible buyer is the Austrian gaming company called Bwin. This company states that they are the primary online gambling organization that has a wide range of activities including sports services in 22 languages, poker, casino, and other games. Bwin is known very well in Europe but not so much in the United States. Recently Bwin closed the PokerRoom.com after existence for 10 years sighting low traffic. Apparently they are doing well in everything else and want to keep it that way by purchasing the WPT.
Steve Lipscomb CEO of WPT stated that the company was not for sale and admitted that the company has had a few years of losing money. This is mostly because more and more poker tournaments are popping up and their tournament costs a good deal of money to the company. They have competition with advertisers being spread out more than it was in the past. WPT is worth about $500 million dollars, a shadow of what it was worth several years ago. Lipscomb admitted to exchanging financial information with companies that have an interest in WPT.
WPT has had a rough time on the NASDAQ stock exchange. They were warned that they would be dropped from the list unless their stock rose back above $1. This was especially devastating to the company as in 2005 their stock sold for top dollar at $26 per share. Last quarter they finally were able to raise the stock up above $1. After two years of red marks in their books, WPT finally made it back into the black. This upswing is probably what attracted prospective buyers to the World Poker Tour.
It would be wise for an online gambling company to purchase the brand. It would allow them to gain more exposure for their online ventures. Laws in the United States are about to be changed where online poker is involved and once that happens it will open a whole new opportunity. The WPT could be an integral part of that.
It is said that the World Poker Tour is credited with bringing poker out of the dark, dusty back rooms of bars and basements to the living rooms of every day folk by way of the television. People that normally wouldn’t have an interest in poker and gaming have an opportunity to watch and learn from what they see in this tour.
Currently, the WPT tournament is taking place and in the final days. This event goes on for months and costs a great deal of money to produce. It also brings in a great deal of revenue for advertising and rights to televise the tournament. It appears that Bwin and possibly some other unnamed companies might have the right idea in trying to purchase the WPT.
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