Caesars Completes $500m Sale of WSOP Brand to NSUS Group

Summary:

• Caesars Entertainment completes a $500 million sale of WSOP to NSUS Group.
• Caesars will preserve its rights to host WSOP Las Vegas tournaments and operate online WSOP poker in select states.
• NSUS plans to expand WSOP globally.

The largest casino-entertainment company in the US and one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers, Caesars Entertainment, has officially finalized the sale of the largest, richest, and most prestigious gaming event in the world, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to GGPoker’s parent company, NSUS Group Inc. 

The latter is at the forefront of business consultancy to leading firms within the iGaming space.

The $500 million deal, which was initially announced in August and sent ripples through the poker industry, included a $250 million cash transaction and a $250 million promissory note due in five years

After the transaction’s closing secured by the @WSOP intellectual property assets being sold

Caesars Will Keep Hosting WSOP’s Flagship Live Las Vegas Tourney 

Despite the change in ownership, Caesars will retain the rights to host the WSOP’s flagship live tournament in Las Vegas for the next 20 years. 

Additionally, Caesars will continue to operate the WSOP Online real-money poker business in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania through a license from NSUS. 

Caesars properties with poker rooms will also maintain WSOP branding while select properties will continue to host live WSOP Circuit events while enjoying “preferential” hosting rights ensuring a strong ongoing partnership between the two companies.

“NSUS Intends to Expand WSOP Worldwide”

NSUS has big plans for WSOP under its new ownership. In the summer, NSUS chief executive officer Michael Kim expressed their intention “to expand WSOP worldwide, positioning it at the forefront of poker’s growth”.

Several WSOP executives will assume leadership roles at NSUS as part of the transition. 

Executive Director Ty Stewart will serve as executive officer of a newly established WSOP subsidiary, with Vice President Gregory Chochton as chief operating officer and Content Manager Erik Eidissen stepping in as communications manager. 

Caesars Entertainment’s press release praised the three decades of “combined experience managing the WSOP brand” of the WSOP executives who are now expected to “lead the next phase of growth and integration under new ownership”.

The sale marks a big shift in the industry, and players can expect “significant expansion of the WSOP brand now that GGPoker is at the helm.”

GGPoker is the world’s biggest poker room, with a global player base and a Poker Operator of the Year title at the EGR Operator Awards 2024 up its sleeve.