Caesars Entertainment announced the sale of the World Series of Poker brand last week for $500 million. As part of the agreement, however, the annual live series in Las Vegas will carry on in the coming years.
As part of the agreement, the NSUS Group, a Canadian online gaming company and owner of GGPoker, takes control of the WSOP intellectual property rights.
“We’ve enjoyed a longstanding and successful partnership with GGPoker that has helped spur the growth of the WSOP brand,” Caesars Digital President Eric Hession said. “This transaction is an exciting step for Caesars as a company and the WSOP brand as it continues to evolve.”
Details on the Sale
The transaction calls for NSUS to pay $250 million in cash and another $250 million via a promissory note due five years after the transaction’s closing date. The agreement also allows Caesars the right to continue hosting the WSOP’s live tournament series at its Las Vegas casinos for the next 20 years.
The deal allows for Caesars poker rooms to continue featuring WSOP branding and enjoy preferential rights to host live WSOP Circuit events.
The company also receives a license from NSUS to continue operating its U.S. online poker platforms in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, but faces some restrictions on expansion in that part of the business.
Deal Too Good to Pass Up
The move may have been too good for Caesars to turn down. The company earns a half-billion dollars and still gets to operate WSOP-branded events and online poker at least in some jurisdictions.
In the days preceding the sale, Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said in an earnings call that the company wasn’t considering a sell-off of any operating casino assets, but that “non-core, non-operating casino assets” might be a different scenario. That appears to include the WSOP.
