Press Release
FOX SPORTS NET AND WORLD POKER TOUR® INK BROADCAST LICENSE FOR SEASON VII
FOX SPORTS NET AND WORLD POKER TOUR® INK BROADCAST license FOR SEASON VII
FSN Will Air 26 All-New WPT Season VII Episodes Across Its National Sports Network
(LOS ANGELES) July 17, 2008 – WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE) and Fox Sports Network (FSN) announced today a partnership and broadcast license for Season VII of the World Poker Tour® (WPT) television series. FSN, the nation’s leading provider of local sports, received exclusive rights to air 26 all-new one hour WPT episodes in the United States across its national sports cable network.
"The World Poker Tour has a track record as the ultimate brand name in televised poker," said George Greenberg, FSN Executive Vice President of Programming and Production. "FSN is very happy to televise such quality content and we look forward to future programming opportunities with the WPT."
WPT, which films its tournaments in premiere properties around North America, will create 26 one-hour episodes from upcoming regular-season events. WPT will shoot the first two episodes today at the Bellagio Cup final table in Las Vegas. FSN and WPT will announce the timeslot and schedule for the complete season broadcast at a later date.
“FSN and News Corporation are two incredible powerhouses in the television industry that have played key roles in the growth and popularity of televised poker,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. “It couldn’t be a better fit for WPT and our fans. We’re thrilled.”
WPT joins the ranks of MLB, NHL and NBA on the FSN network, which serves as the TV home to nearly two-thirds of all teams based in the United States. FSN’s 16 owned-and-operated regional networks and its affiliated networks reach more than 80 million homes across the U.S. FSN is owned and operated by News Corporation.
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ABOUT FOX SPORTS NETWORK
FSN is the nation’s leading provider of local sports. FSN’s 16 owned-and-operated regional networks and its affiliated networks reach more than 80 million homes across the U.S. FSN serves as the TV home to nearly two-thirds of all MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States. FSN also produces close to 5,000 live local events each year, including more than 1,600 in high definition. In addition to its thousands of home team games and a wide variety of locally produced sports programs, FSN televises national sports events and programs, including Pac-10 and ACC basketball and Pac-10 and Big 12 football.
ABOUT WPTE
WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE) is a company engaged in the creation of internationally branded entertainment and consumer products driven by the development, production, and marketing of televised programming based on gaming themes. WPTE is the creator of the World Poker Tour®, a television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments that has been licensed for broadcast globally. WPT Season VI airs Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT on GSN in the United States, and WPT Season VII will air on FSN in 2009. WPTE also offers real-money online gaming on its website, www.worldpokertour.com, which prohibits wagers from players in the U.S. and certain other restricted territories. WPTE also has operations in mainland China, pursuant to an agreement with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Center where WPTE is developing and marketing the WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour. In January 2008, the company launched ClubWPT.com, an innovative subscription-based online poker club targeted to the estimated 60 million poker players in the United States and is currently offered in 38 States. WPTE currently licenses its brand to companies in the business of poker equipment and instruction, apparel, publishing, electronic and wireless entertainment, DVD/home entertainment, casino games, and giftware. The company is also engaged in the sale of corporate sponsorships. For show information, tools for improving poker play, and other WPT news, fans may log on to www.worldpokertour.com. WPTE is a majority owned subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: LACO).
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Contact:
Justin Simon
Fox Sports Network
310-369-6625
Lyndsay LaGree
WPT Enterprises
323 599 9145
llagree@worldpokertour.com