Epic Poker has inked an important publicity agreement with USA Today
Friday, December 2,2011 : MAJOR DEAL FOR PROFESSIONAL POKER LEAGUE
Epic Poker has inked an important publicity agreement with USA Today and Big Lead Sports
With its third live tournament event scheduled for early December, the new professional poker league, Epic Poker, has inked a deal with the large circulation USA Today Sports Media group and U.S. independent online sports property, Big Lead Sports.
The new agreement will see the latest Global Poker Index updates — a patent pending system to rank and track the weekly performance of the world's top 300 live tournament poker players — published weekly in both the print and online editions of USA Today. In addition, Epic Poker is now the exclusive source of poker news and information for Big Lead Sports.
"Our work with the USA Today Sports Media Group and Big Lead Sports will help drive poker deeper into the mainstream news cycle and further position the game right alongside other professional sports content," said Jeffrey Pollack, executive chairman of the Epic Poker and its parent company, Federated Sports and Gaming.
Each week, print editions of USA Today will publish the latest GPI updates, which will be presented to readers as the "USA Today Global Poker Index." The first announcement of each week's revised rankings will also be available online at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/poker-rankings.htm .
"More Americans are playing and watching poker than ever before, and this partnership will enable us to provide that avid, growing audience with the content they want," said Tom Beusse, president of the USA Today Sports Media Group. "The USA Today Global Poker Index will give our readers access to new and relevant content that's easy to track and understand. It will also help open up the game of poker to the casual fan."
The Epic Poker partnership with Big Lead Sports, which sees more than 20 million monthly unique visitors, will make it an exclusive source of poker news and information. The exclusive content will include highlights from tournament action featuring the world's best professional poker players, reporting from Epic Poker's team of trusted poker feature writers, and video teasers and content from the Epic Poker League.
Epic Poker League and 2011 poker Hall of Fame nominee, Annie Duke, will provide insight into not only the sport of poker but also the current events taking place throughout the entire sporting world with her exclusive weekly blog on thebiglead.com.
"Partnering with Epic Poker will enable us to offer our fans top-notch coverage and insights into everything happening in the world of poker," said Chris Russo, chief executive officer of Big Lead Sports. "Epic Poker's pool of talented poker feature writers will be providing coverage of all the world-class players and tournaments and will complement the already growing archive of poker news content found on EpicPoker.com."
