The future of poker on TV is “in serious doubt as networks have begun throwing in their cards,” according to Eriq Gardner of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Poker shows have “proliferated on television during the past decade to the point that ... about 50 programs air each week on networks as diverse as broadcasters NBC and Fox and the most obscure cable channels.” But in April, the U.S. Department of Justice “dropped its hammer on the poker community by indicting founders of the largest online poker enterprises,” including Full Tilt, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker. Since the indictments, Fox has folded two of its shows, "PokerStars Big Game" and "PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge," and ESPN has pulled "PokerStars North American Poker Tour," its "featured poker show of the spring." Furthermore, "shows like 'Poker After Dark' on NBC could be the next to go, and even highly rated shows like ESPN’s 'World Series of Poker' -- though apparently safe for now -- might look radically different if poker advertising dries up.” Gardner noted the "most immediate problem for networks is that as a result of the indictments, poker sites’ assets have been frozen, drying up sources of advertising and sponsorships.” Game Show Network, whose poker programming ads come “exclusively from poker websites,” recently severed ties with PokerStars.net and FullTiltPoker.net, “both presenting sponsors of its poker shows.” Even if advertising concerns "weren't so serious, poker on television would be endangered.” Most shows will need to “pass renewed muster with network lawyers,” and L.A.-based attorney Sanford Millar said that some networks may be “fearful of making co-production deals that might be deemed by authorities to be ‘aiding and abetting’ criminal activity.” Additionally, because “many of the game’s top players are sponsored by indicted poker sites, the result could be less action at the table and dwindling money pots” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 6/6).
ALL IN: In Las Vegas, Howard Stutz reports player participation “in the first 11 events at the World Series of Poker is up 2.5 percent over last year.” Through Monday, 10,624 players “signed up to play in the tournament’s initial events, up slightly from 10,358 players who competed in the same 11 events” at the ’10 WSOP. Whether the trends “hold through the tournament’s remaining 47 events is still up for debate.” Tournament officials “weren’t sure what effect the U.S. Department of Justice crackdown on internet poker” would have on the event. WSOP Exec Dir Ty Stewart yesterday said that at the outset of the tournament, he was “worried that players with bankrolls tied up in the online sites might have trouble entering the tournament.” But Stewart has been “happily proven wrong." He said, “I really do believe that poker is much bigger than anyone wanted to admit” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/8).
