E-WSOP

World Series of Poker – Popularity and Marketing

The World Series of Poker has always been popular since its creation in the 1970s. But then, only a few poker players, most of which are professionals, value the WSOP’s existence and popularity. Even so, this did not hinder WSOP from soaring to new heights popularity wise.

The World Series of Poker has been televised since the 1970s, and the increased popularity of the event was so enormous that, as of the present, WSOP could even be played using the latest gaming consoles.

Televised to Fame

In the early years of the World Series of Poker, publicity came in the form of filmed events that came out as TV specials. The first one of its kind came out in 1973. This filming was produced by the WSOP’s organizers, specifically Binion’s Horseshoe. Jimmy Snyder also known as “The Greek” was the first to do the narration for the first WSOP TV special.

The TV special went on until 1987 with CBS boosting the broadcasting from time to time. It was not until 1988 when ESPN took over the broadcasting of the World Series of Poker that the publicity reached great heights. The logistical limitations during that time hindered the possibility of doing a live blow-by-blow broadcast of the event. There was not much happening on the broadcast. No strategy discussion and analysis could be seen, not even player overview.

The great changed happened during the advent of card cams. This enabled viewers to see a player’s hands and his playing strategy as well. ESPN also rose to higher level by airing the 2006 World Series of Poker via pay-per-view.

Marketing the Game

Aside from the tremendous media coverage that the WSOP is receiving, there are other ways by which the event is garnering a considerable amount of fame. A lot of corporate sponsors are after the privilege to market themselves as official sponsors of the events. This came as another marketing advantage to the World Series since tagging along with popular products means an increase in its popularity.

The WSOP has also released its own line of licensed products, most of which are gaming products like cards, chips and dice. Other products include shirts, caps and many more. And most of all, some video game and software companies have won licenses to feature the World Series of Poker in their products. The WSOP now comes in the form of online games, PC games and console games.