Caesars Entertainment has sold the WSOP to GGPoker for $500M.
August 1st will be on the annals of Poker history. On this day, Caesars Palace announced a deal with NSUS Group, the company that owns and operates GGpoker and provides software to Natural8, where they sold the World Series of Poker brand for $500M.
The announcement was made on X, formerly Twitter.
“We have signed a definitive agreement to sell our @WSOP brand intellectual property to NSUS Group Inc. $500M, $250M cash and $250M promissory note due 5 years after close.”
But in the press release Caesars said they will still be able to host the WSOP summer series on the Las Vegas Strip for the next 20 years and their licenses to use the WSOP brand for their brick and mortar poker rooms. Caesars destinations will also be able to host live WSOP Circuit (WSOP-C) events.
To protect its online poker sites from the sale, Caesars has got a license from NSUS for their digital operator, Caesars Digital, to continue to run their WSOP Online real-money poker site, which was just upgraded. The site is in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. It will remain open for now but with some exceptions.
The IP sale is just four months before WSOP Paradise returns to the Bahamas this December and just after the biggest WSOP Main Event in history.
Maybe this was always going to happen as WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said four years ago they were “more excited” to work with GGPoker.
In the press release Caesars Digital President Eric Hession said: “As the WSOP brand has evolved in this poker crazy world, we see this as an opportunity for Caesars.” He added: “What’s next?”
“We have had a great partnership with GGPoker that has grown the WSOP brand. This is a big move for Caesars and the WSOP brand as it evolves. We can’t wait to see what NSUS does with the WSOP legacy and look forward to delivering the same to poker players moving forward,” Hession said. The WSOP app and its community features are all about the social and the chance to become a poker legend. Being part of the WSOP community gets you special announcements, new games and to connect with others.
NSUS Group CEO Michael Kim said: “After working with Caesars Entertainment for years, NSUS Group, the operators of GGPoker, are proud to announce they will be running the World Series of Poker, the biggest poker brand in the world.”
He added: “We will use GGPoker’s technology and industry expertise to make a great future for WSOP, to make the poker experience better, safer and smoother for players. Under new management NSUS will take WSOP global and put it at the forefront of poker growth.” Start playing poker on GGPoker today with free chips and multiple game modes. It’s exhilarating.
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The WSOP has made big moves before to get into other markets through international expansion. They launched WSOP APAC in 2013 and 2014. Before that they launched WSOP Europe in 2007.
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