Caesars Entertainment, Inc has completed the sale of its intellectual property rights for the World Series of Poker brand to NSUS Group Inc, part of a previously announced US$500 million deal.
Providing new details on the sale after closing on Tuesday (US time), Caesars said the transaction will see several long-time WSOP executives transition to key leadership roles within the NSUS team. They include Ty Stewart who will serve as CEO of the newly formed WSOP subsidiary, while Gregory Chochon has accepted the position of COO. Erik Eidissen joins as Communications Manager.
The deal will see Caesars receive US$250 million in cash plus a $250 million promissory note due five years after the transaction’s closing date, secured by the WSOP intellectual property assets being sold.
However, Caesars retains the rights to continue hosting the annual WSOP live tournament series at its Las Vegas casinos for the next 20 years, while brick-and-mortar poker rooms currently operated by Caesars will continue to feature WSOP branding and Caesars destinations will continue to enjoy preferential rights to host live WSOP Circuit events going forward.
Caesars Digital will also receive a license from NSUS to continue operating its WSOP Online real-money poker business in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future but will otherwise be restricted from operating online peer-to-peer real-money poker operations for a specified period of time and subject to certain exceptions.
Michael Kim, CEO of NSUS Group Inc, stated upon the initial announcement of the transaction that his company – which also operates online poker giant GGPoker, would look to further expand the WSOP brand globally.
“We will leverage GGPoker’s cutting-edge technology and industry expertise to create an exciting future for WSOP, ensuring players have an increasingly improved, safe, and seamless poker experience,” he said at the time. “Under the new leadership, NSUS intends to expand WSOP worldwide, positioning it at the forefront of poker’s growth.”
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