Comments on Fifth Street Journal: WSOP Delays Final Table For TV, Sky Falls

Earl Burton voiced his opinions on the delayed fin...

2008-11-27T12:49:00.000-05:00

Earl Burton voiced his opinions on the delayed final table at Poker News Daily. Among other things he talked about how ESPN did very little promotion of the show on their own outlets. Blaming them for the disappointing buildup makes more sense than Harrah's blaming it on the players.

This appears to have been a financial success: rat...

2008-11-14T16:03:00.000-05:00

This appears to have been a financial success: ratings for the final table were up 46%; for the rest of the main event they were up 10%; and ratings for other events were flat from last year.

In a 2+2 thread Demidov says he got no additional ...

2008-11-13T17:43:00.000-05:00

In a 2+2 thread Demidov says he got no additional sponsorship money from the final table delay and Marquis says "On the subject of sponsorship money, let me just say that outside of the poker world, there were not nearly as many opportunity as desired.... Regardless I did get a little bit extra."

This didn't generate as much publicity as people e...

2008-11-12T05:39:00.000-05:00

This didn't generate as much publicity as people expected, but other than that I haven't changed my opinions on the above. Experience certainly confirmed that there's too long between the final table being taped and broadcast.

November Niner Craig Marquis is answering question...

2008-10-07T17:35:00.000-04:00

November Niner Craig Marquis is answering questions on 2+2. One of his comments about the delayed final table: "I'm pretty happy we got the break. Not only do I think it'll be good for poker, but it also opens up the opportunity for other non poker companies to become involved in advertising. Also I was sick as **** and would've probably just died while playing out. I think the equity I lose vs the more inexperienced players is made up for added sponsorship opportunities."

PokerNews.com's Martin Harris has an editorial abo...

2008-09-30T22:20:00.000-04:00

PokerNews.com's Martin Harris has an editorial about the marketing opportunities afforded by the WSOP Main Event final table delay. The article doesn't say much, but it has these interesting bits towards the end:

... all nine are already benefitting from sponsorships from online poker sites, more so than past years' final tablists in that aside from monetary compensation for logo-wearing, the delay is allowing sites to place players in intervening events such as the recent LAPT event in Punta del Este as well as the WSOP Europe bracelet events, where several November Nine players have appeared.

In his interview with (Craig) Marquis, (Phil) Gordon brought up "commercial opportunities coming your way from mainstream companies" (i.e., not the online poker sites), asking Marquis whether his experience fit with Gordon's earlier prediction that making the final table would eventually "be worth about $250,000 to $300,000 per player." Marquis called that prediction "pretty accurate, hopefully" -- not exactly verifying the figure, but nevertheless confirming the fact that the nine players are receiving interest and inquiries on a level beyond what those making WSOP ME final tables in the past have experienced.

There has been speculation from the beginning abou...

2008-09-07T18:53:00.000-04:00

There has been speculation from the beginning about the ways the delayed final table would change the Main Event. One of the ways was coaching, and Roy Winston offered his services to final tableists. He recently got his first customer: final table chip leader Dennis Phillips.