Q&A: Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner, World Series of Poker  

Jeffrey Pollack is the commissioner of the WSOP and also vice president of sports and entertainment marketing at Harrah’s Entertainment; roles he has held for nearly a year. When Sport and Technology last interviewed Pollack (in October 2003), he was managing director of broadcasting and new media at NASCAR Digital Entertainment. He is the founder of The Sports Business Daily.

Please describe what being the commissioner of the World Series of Poker involves:

“Already we are the world’s most prestigious and richest poker tournament, but there’s still significant room for growth and that’s what I am focused on. My role as commissioner is a nod towards our commitment to the tournament – from the players to the dealers to the sponsors and media partners, so that everyone is aligned and working well together, as well as providing the best possible customer service. Out of that there are clearly two main jobs. Job one is player and partner relations and providing the best possible experience for them and job two is making sure the tournament is the best it can be with regards structure, logistics and design.”

Why is the WSOP so special?

“When people think of Wimbledon, they immediately think of the ultimate expression of excellence in tennis. And that’s the WSOP. We are the ultimate expression of excellence in poker. WSOP is a gem in the Harrah’s portfolio.”

Has anything been done differently this year to last year?

“We added a $50,000 HORSE event for high limit players which was a great success and attracted a lot of the top players – it turned into our ‘All-Star’ event. Next year, our amateur players should expect to see a special event aimed at them where perhaps anyone who has one a bracelet or been on a final table is disqualified. We have to keep things fresh.”

What other things would you change or make better next year?

“I see WSOP as a work in progress. Our team is still pretty new and this is my first WSOP as commissioner. We are certainly reaching out to people smarter than we are, so we have to keep assessing all elements of the tournament. We have definitely set a solid foundation for growth however. In terms of specific changes, I have already highlighted a couple of things. We could do a better job in outlining clear points of engagement for our customers so that everyone knows where to go and whom they should be talking to on a realtime basis. We could also do a better job in helping people understand what’s happening in the poker room – both players and spectators. We are looking at ways of doing that, such as perhaps having big screens.”

You don’t seem to have many sponsors for such a high profile event. Could that situation change?

“At the moment our main media partners are ESPN, AOL and Glu Mobile. Our presenting sponsor is Miller, who have a three-year deal and we also have a relationship with Corum, a watch company, who is our official timekeeper. We also have one season deals with PartyPoker.com, CardPlayer and Bluff. Whilst we have only two main sponsors now, we expect that to increase to between six and 10 when we feel the WSOP is fully developed. There will be one new one next year at least. The categories that we are looking at include automotive, men’s grooming, quick service restaurants and snack food/candy.”

What do you think about the creation of the World Poker Association? They are keen to have the WSOP sign up as a member.

“I don’t have a specific opinion other than to say, what’s good for poker can only benefit the industry in general. I will be sitting down and talking to them in the future.”

How does your experience at the WSOP differ from that at NASCAR?

“The biggest difference is that we pack a complete season into 48 days, whereas NASCAR and other high profile sports competitions in the US such as the NFL, NBA and MLB are spread over several months. We clearly have a beginning, middle and end like those sports though - it’s just on a different scale.”

Why do you think poker has become so popular?

“Television has a lot to do with it – ESPN and the Travel Channel in the US have done a great job in both showing and promoting the sport. The internet of course is also bigger and better and more of a viable proposition than ever before. I have been here before in terms of the ‘boom factor’, both at the NBA and NASCAR though. Every sport has its moment and the challenge is to capitalise on that so that when the moment passes, it still is strong. It’s being able to capture a large slice of a peak within a sport’s popularity, before it hits a low.”

Do you think there’s a danger of saturation in the marketplace?

“There may be a little bit too much poker product out there at the moment and I expect it to shake out. But I’m still extremely bullish about poker as whole though and certain aspects still offer great opportunities.”

How has the market for consumer poker products been panning out in the US?

“The market has been a bit flat this year and perhaps even down. There may just be too much stuff out there. However, the demand for our high quality WSOP merchandise is still going strong.”

Do you have any final comments?

“This is a different WSOP than 30 years ago or even three years ago. It is bigger and we would like to think better, but as I said earlier, it is all work in progress and it will be better again next year. We’re already planning ahead and it’s probably a couple of seasons yet before we nail the experience fully. We’ve made a terrific start though and we have a great team – not to mention an excellent location at the Rio.”

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