It was announced early today (30 September) that PokerStars has signed up as lead sponsor and exclusive online poker sponsor of the Global Poker League.
“The Global Poker League brings an innovative team-based twist to poker and we are happy to support [parent company] Mediarex in their quest to bring poker to new audiences,” said Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars’ Director of Corporate Communications.
This comes as quite the win for the fledgeling GPL and CEO Alex Dreyfus who saw its marquee matchup of the second part of its schedule with mainstream celebrity Aaron Paul postponed this week due to a scheduling conflict.
What we know
PokerStars branding is going to be present on The Cube where key heads up matches are held.
Apart from that, details are being kept vague as to how the partnership will work apart from a press release stating that the companies will work “on a number of promotional initiatives designed to connect both existing and prospective poker fans to the GPL.”
Many PokerStars Team Pros, including Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Randy “nanonoko” Lew are already working with the GPL as team managers or players.
A crucial step forward
“We are optimistic about this partnership, having the support of PokerStars is a crucial step forward on the road to fully establishing the GPL as a real blueprint for poker entertainment in the future” said Dreyfus.
“PokerStars offers us a multitude of opportunities to grow our platform and continue developing our two-fold strategy of connecting the League to the poker community and genuinely connecting poker to the mainstream entertainment sector on a large scale.”
The second half of the inaugural season of the Global Poker League is now playing through until late October. Players can now watch games on PokerStars.TV.
Live playoffs and finals, now at the GPL Arena in Las Vegas, are scheduled for late November into December.