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SPORTS broadcaster
ESPN couldn't believe its luck. Several weeks ago the Australian
outpost of the US company decided to try to promote its weekly World
Series Poker show by inviting a journalist from Inside Sport to
cover the annual
Texas Holdem
championships in Las
Vegas. Among more than 5000 competitors each paying $US10,000
($13,000) for the privilege was an anonymous Australian,
Joe Hachem.
As the weekend wore on Hachem piled his chips high, moving from
obscurity to the final table of 10. By 4.30am on the last day Hachem
was world champion and $10 million richer. Inside Sport had a great
story and ESPN suddenly had a show it could sell to advertisers.
No one knows
what
Texas Holdem
poker in
Australia is worth, in absolute terms and in terms of its value as
an advertising medium. But marketers are moving to see how they may
be able to cash in on its sudden popularity.
Crown Casino,
home of the biggest
Texas Holdem
poker
tournament in Australia, the Aussie Millions, has witnessed growing
numbers of players flocking to its tables and the casino may soon be
working on its own televised tournament, with sponsors part of the
package.
"The recent
airings of
poker on
free-to-air TV in Australia and the accessibility of online poker
have been a huge factor in the demand for poker at Crown Casino,"
Crown media relations manager Kathryn Farrell says. "We are looking
to remain at the forefront of poker in the next few years. One of
the elements will inevitably be some form of televised poker and ...
we would be looking for sponsors."
Poker TV began
as a late-night slot filler for cable TV programmers but has
steadily made its way into prime time. Fox8, Fox Sports, Discovery
and ESPN have all bought in and advertisers are following.
Last week ESPN
premiered its own drama series, Tilt, based on the life of a
professional poker player.
ESPN's local
spokeswoman, Emma Barnes, who was in
Las Vegas
when Hachem hit the jackpot, says the network has seen a leap in
interest in World Series Poker broadcasts. "It really has become
huge in Australia in the last six months," Barnes says.
This year
Network Ten began airing poker late on Saturday nights after its AFL
coverage and is believed to have captured respectable ratings. But
advertisers have yet to target the Ten show.
Anthony
Fitzgerald, head of pay-TV ad broker the Multi Channel Network is
guarded in giving away too much, but says poker is proving popular
with advertisers targeting young men over 18.
The area where
poker has had its biggest impact is online. Hundreds of poker
websites, many based in locations such as Gibraltar and the
Caribbean for regulatory purposes, have come on to the market in
recent years.
Visit any of the
sites and you will find hundreds of virtual tables packed with
online players gambling real and play money.
Kris Robinson,
one of the founders of poker.com, which runs its customer service
out of Brisbane, says growth has been spectacular. Poker.com offers
real money gaming for players outside Australia, but boasts more
than 1000 regular players on its free site within Australia.
"Locally I have
noticed there has been a big boom in recent months," Robinson says.
"You just have to look at the number of poker products on sale on
eBay, as well as coverage in magazines such as Ralph and FHM. We are
getting 20 inquiries a day from people wanting to advertise on the
website."
Hachem is a
regular at Crown in Melbourne, which this week is increasing the
number of poker tables. At the same time Adelaide Casino has
announced that the popular
Texas Holdem
version of the game will be introduced.
"Most of our new
patrons are under 30 with a greater proportion of females trying the
game," Crown's Farrell says.
That is an
elusive demographic for advertisers but some are not sure the surge
in interest in the game online will be followed by advertisers.
Miles Joyce,
managing director of online media agency NetX, says poker websites
are of limited appeal to many advertisers. "There may be huge
numbers of eyes, but you can get traffic in a better environment." |
