By
Dan
On June 9th, the World Poker Tour announced it was opening discussions for the rights to air the seventh season of its programming. After five very successful seasons on The Travel Channel and a one-year experiment on GSN, the World Poker Tour finally settled on Fox Sports Net to air its upcoming tournaments as part of Season VII. The announcement came on Thursday at the Bellagio, the site of the first tournament that will become a part of Season VII, the Bellagio Cup. Amid the fray in Las Vegas were Steve Lipscomb, Founder and CEO of the World Poker Tour, and George Greenberg, Executive Vice President of Production and Programming for Fox Sports and Fox Sports Net. Each spoke on what the new arrangement will mean to poker fans everywhere.
In June, Lipscomb commented about GSN not picking up the exclusive rights to its seventh season: “This may allow us the first opportunity to explore diversifying content on multiple networks like most sports leagues. We have already begun those discussions and look forward to making another season of the best and most widely distributed poker programming in the world to our dedicated viewers and fans.” He told PocketFives.com from the Bellagio what his feelings were moments after issuing that statement: “I called [poker pro] Lyle Berman and told him that the Chinese character for crisis is the same character as they use for opportunity. We really have been handed the best opportunity we’ve ever had by being on Fox Sports Net. This is going to make the WPT like every other sport.”
On his first thoughts after being ousted from GSN, Lipscomb commented, “It’s never nice to hear someone say that they’ve decided to change their brand despite the ratings [that the WPT was pulling in]. We’ll be in a much better place now.” On Fox Sports Net, the WPT will air 26 episodes, each lasting one hour, down from the two hour shows that you’re accustomed to. Poker enthusiasts will be able to catch Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten every Sunday night as part of FSN’s nationwide programming block. Lipscomb commented about being part of the Sunday night scene: “We’re going to be airing one-hour shows, which will give us the flexibility to not have to reveal a tournament’s winner in the last 10 minutes every week.”
Lipscomb and Greenberg have been friendly for eight years, which made the process of finding a new broadcast outlet much smoother. Greenberg told PocketFives.com, “Steve and I have been talking for years about bringing the World Poker Tour to Fox Sports Net and it was never the right time. You always knew that if we could get it right once, we’d hit the long ball.” While waiting for the World Poker Tour, Fox Sports Net aired several poker shows, including the Mansion Poker Dome Challenge in 2006 and 2007. The Poker Dome featured dramatic music and lighting effects, heart meters strapped to players, and a bunch of poker novices battling it out on nationwide television. Greenberg commented about the Dome and other poker shows that FSN has aired: “We’ve taken chances everywhere to help out our poker sponsors. We’ve tried it all. We are the only Emmy award-winning production for poker and we were up against the Olympics.”
The Bellagio Cup ended on Thursday night and will be the first tournament to air on Fox Sports Net. Here is the remainder of the Season VII schedule:
The Bicycle Casino Legends of Poker
Aug 23 - 28, 2008
The Bicycle Casino
Bell Gardens, California
Borgata Poker Open
Sep 14 - 18, 2008
Borgata
Atlantic City, New Jersey
North American Poker Championship
Oct 10 - 16, 2008
Fallsview Casino Resort
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Festa Al Lago
Oct 20 - 25, 2008
Bellagio
Las Vegas, Nevada
Foxwoods World Poker Finals
Nov 5 - 11, 2008
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mashantucket, Connecticut
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic
Dec 13 - 19, 2008
Bellagio
Las Vegas, Nevada
Gulf Coast Poker Championship
Jan 16 - 19, 2009
Beau Rivage
Biloxi, Mississippi
Borgata Poker Classic
Jan 25 - 29, 2009
Borgata
Atlantic City, New Jersey
LA Poker Classic
Feb 28 - Mar 5, 2009
Commerce Casino
Commerce, California
WPT Celebrity Invitational
Mar 7 - 9, 2009
Commerce Casino
Commerce, California
Bay 101 Shooting Star
Mar 16 - 20, 2009
Bay 101
San Jose, California
Foxwoods Poker Classic
Apr 4 - 9, 2009
Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mashantucket, Connecticut
WPT World Championship
Apr 18 - 25, 2009
Bellagio
Las Vegas, Nevada
Seasons II to V will continue to air on The Travel Channel. GSN has the right to broadcast the episodes from Season VI for the next four years. New tournaments will air on FSN, which reaches 80 million homes nationwide. The network is broken down into 16 regional affiliates; the Sunday night time slot is home to the only original nationwide programming that FSN offers. World Poker Tour Enterprises, the WPT’s parent company, traded up 2% on Thursday. The stock is currently trading at $0.90, a far cry from its 52-week high of $4.50.
PocketFivesLive.com will be on-hand for the Legends of Poker event coming up at the Bike in Los Angeles covering online poker players. Lipscomb sums up the latest news from the World Poker Tour: “George Greenberg and FSN have done great things in poker. They’ve done an awful lot of things that push the envelope. We have a chance to make this a hit.”