I find it odd that the World Series Of Poker can’t find any big corporate sponsors. Where are Apple, Pepsi, and AT&T?
You know who we get in their place? Jack Link’s Beef Jerky.
We can’t get the people who make the iPhone, but we can get the makers of dried meat products. That’s the big title sponsor of the WSOP this year, replacing Milwaukee’s Best Light, which has a couple of years to go on its contract but has taken a lesser role. Where’s a beer brand you’ve heard of, and might actually have consumed, like Bud Light?
Another sponsor here is Gamma-O, a pill that allegedly boosts testosterone levels. If there’s one thing we don’t need in a poker room, it’s more testosterone.
Thousands of people traveled to Vegas to be part of the WSOP — where are the travel company sponsors, like Travelocity and Expedia? Where are the video game companies, whose target demo of men in their 20s is also the largest growing demographic of poker players?
This event is the equivalent of an ongoing huge convention in Las Vegas, lasting more than a month and a half. The WSOP telecasts on ESPN draw more viewers than regular season NBA games and the NHL finals. All these corporations can’t be staying away because of the narrow-minded nitwits who look down their noses at poker, can they? If so, why does Apple have so many best-selling poker apps in their online store?
It’s time for corporate America to step up and support a game that’s rooted in America with growing worldwide appeal.