USA TODAY Sports Becomes GPI Official Media Partner

admin, November 18, 2015 1:17 pm

USA TODAY Sports Becomes GPI Official Media Partner French entrepreneur Alex Dreyfus (photo) has relentlessly been pursuing his vision of “sportifying” poker, with the Global Poker Index (GPI), and the Global Poker League (GPL) amongst his many innovations. As part of his strategy, Dreyfus has also been seeking partnerships with mainstream sponsors in order to promote greater interest in poker, and last week he managed to pull of a major coup by inking a deal with the national American daily, USA TODAY.
Since the poker boom ended in 2006, media interest in poker has steadily declined, but it appears Dreyfus’ new “multi-year content partnership” may have the potential to add a new dynamic to the industry. The deal includes the USA TODAY Sports section featuring a “a competitive poker-themed destination page, featuring GPI assets and information”, with special attention given to the inaugural Global Poker League that will get underway in 2016.
The GPL will feature 12 teams consisting of five poker pros representing different cities from across the Americas and EurAsia. The league will subsequently build towards the GPL World Championships, which is expected to be held next summer, with all matches streamed online, as well as a select number airing live on TV. Commenting on the latest deal, Jason Ford, the VP of Sports Marketing for USA TODAY Sports Media Group, explained:
“The Global Poker Index has done more than any other organization to unify poker and to see the possibilities that exist for creating a ‘big league’ atmosphere around play. We’re looking forward to working together to create a 24/7 digital poker destination, and to providing coverage for some of the groundbreaking events that GPI is launching.”
USA Today was founded in 1982, with its offshoot, USA TODAY Sports, focusing on such popular sports as NASCAR, NFL, NBA, and ATP. In the past, Alex Dreyfus expressed his desire to see the GPI become poker’s equivalent of these organization, and his latest deal seems to have taken him one step closer on that journey.

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