Poker: Nascar, Ho’s, and Men
I’ve heard it said that poker was going to be the “new Nascar;” expanding its mainstream appeal and, logically, its mainstream advertising base. And to some extent, maybe that has been true.Had poker beenable to achieve a normal arc (not impeded by the UIGEA), it probably would havetraversed a Nascar-like path.
Nascar did a lot of things right to boost and sustain its growth. They have one of the best sportswebsites going. They introduced a playoff system in 2004. They allowed the introduction of foreign sports cars and started promoting some of its non-US players. But all that being said, NASCAR’s trajectory could never sustainmeteoric growth, and neither would poker’s.[pictured above is Kasey Kahnefrom Nascar.com - note I will be betting on him when Iget to Vegas next week]
The Sunday NYT’s reported that although Bill France (chairman and chief executive of Nascar) announced at the beginning of the 2007 Nascar season that they would show growth once again, there has been evidence to the contrary. So far television ratings are down an additional 14%. First quarterrevenues were down approximately 19%, due primarily to lowerattendance and concession sales. A.G. Edwards reported that Nascar’s corporate sponsorship is growing at a slower pace. After incurring loses on its contract, NBC chose not to renewwith Nascar. This may have been good news for Nascar as they arenowin the first year of an eight year deal with ABC/ESPN,Fox, TNT, and Speed. Nascar probably was a good template for poker during the growth years. Butmaybe they will be an even more valuabletemplate for managingpoker’s possible pending plateauor decline. For instance, is this really the year you want to have two additional overlapping Vegas tournaments during the WSOP? Managing consolidation and decline is a hell of a lot harder than managing growth -but I suspect Nascar could get that right, too.
And on theho front…no I’m not talking about the Poker Ho (Mark Kroon pictured above) or the lovely Rhowena Colclough (pictured in this NSFW photo) who apparently didn’t realize thatherhubby David had busted out of Monte Carlo and got caught in a compromising position. BTW pokerspouses, most tournaments have live reporting now - so you can figure out when your spouse is liable to hop a plane for home. The Ho I’m talkin’ about is Planet Hollywood.The former Aladdin (first picture below) is getting its Planet Hollywood makeover - and a number of enterprising photographerscaught it in its”Planet Ho” stage (second picture below).
The good news it that although Planet Hollywood may not have her best face on yet, the new poker room has officially opened. They’ve apparently spent $2 million on this puppy. While they are still in the process of installing the new plasma TVs and computer system, they have ten tables up already (with a few more planned). Other than the normal fare, they willbe running four daily tournaments and [Blogger Alert] they will spread mixed games on demand.
In other news, I received a press release from Cordoza publishing, announcing their newonline poker site for the “thinking man.” I’m going to guess I don’t meet the audience criteria on at least one front. Who does your marketing?
Pokerworks.com
Deutsches Poker
Poker Français
Póquer en español
Poker in Italiano
Magyar Póker
Hrvatski Poker
Dutch Poker
Brasileiro Poker
April 16th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I’m just shocked at the ‘imusization’ of the corner. Although given the link to nudity I have already forgotten the rest of the post. Thereby proving that I too fail the Cordoza test I guess
Bill
April 17th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Relative to NASCAR and dropping percentages: My take, from discussing with some pals who have been hard core fans for a while, is that some of the changes made aren’t sitting well with the old school fans. The "playoff" Race for the Chase did bring better attendance and television ratings for the last 5-10 races of the season, but it may have also alienated hard core fans whose favorite(s) didn’t make the chase. [To try and correct this NASCAR, this year, introduced a new strategy where 12 drivers will be eligible for the chase]. Some old fans also find that impound races (which limits modifications prior to the race) leads to a less than stellar race - as cars have to be tweaked a bunch before they find the right handling. Finally, the old fans may not be find rubbing shoulders with the new fans all that appealing. Your old NASCAR fan is more liable to pick up a boat to tow behind his old pickup, than to buy an Escalade.
Not sure what the moral of the story is. Perhaps it’s that you have to watch out that your eagerness to get under the TV lens doesn’t disrupt the whole applecart. To watch out for rule changes which may make the whole event less fun to play and to watch - which doesn’t mean rules changes shouldn’t be considered.
matt
PS: Happy Birthday to my big sister.
Correction to something I passed along earlier - Phoenix is not the first time the NASCAR COT will be used on a 1 mile track, Martinsville was.. Kasey didn’t do great at Martinsville. Jimmy and JeffG finished 1-2. Jeff Burton could be a good bet though. He won this week, and finished 6th at Martinsville. Kennseth finished 10th there, and 2nd this week. Tony, Dale Jr, Jimmy and Jeff will probably have odds that make it only so favorable to bet on them - but I think they all did top 10 at Martinsville.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Hey Matty,
Thanks for the BD wishes and the NASCAR advice. I think I’d like to go with someone that has demonstrated some confidence in the COT - and someone that has also been on a good streak. Sounds like either Burton or Kennseth fits the bill. I’ll check the odds on Friday when I get to the Caesar’s sportsbook.