WSOP Shakes Up Media Policy

WSOP Shakes Up Media Policy

Thursday, 29 January 2015

The recent change of policy regarding the WSOP Main Event's $10 million top prize was not the only news to filter through the community yesterday. Following news of the prizepool alteration, it also emerged that Pokernews would no longer be providing tournament updates from the summer festival.

Having long been the "official" media outlet covering the event from table-side, the WSOP is now brining in its own team to provide ongoing updates throughout the festival. Despite having a strong working relationship with Pokernews for a number of years, Seth Palansky, the WSOP's Vice President of Corporate Communications, explained that a "significant increase" in expectations forced him to look elsewhere.

Although the exact terms of the deal weren't explained to f5poker, Palansky stated that the WSOP couldn't "justify that expense" and will now use its own team to provide live updates. Not only that, but Palansky also explained that live streaming has become much more popular in recent years and that this will not change which means fans can still see all the crucial action as they have done for the last few years.

When asked by f5poker whether other media outlets will be able to provide video content from the WSOP, Palansky stated that, despite most of the filming guidelines being controlled by ESPN, he doesn't see the rules "changing much over previous years."

So, for fans of the WSOP, it seems as though the 2015 event will see some subtle changes to the way things are run. Whether that proves to be a good thing or not remains to be seen.



Tags: WSOP, World Series of Poker