By all accounts, The Nevada Gaming Control Board has and approved the way in which advertising and written endorsements have been conducted at the 2011 World Series of Poker Event currently underway in Las Vegas. Normally reluctant to get involved in the hands-on operation of the WSOP, the NGCB which oversees state laws governing regulations within the gaming industry, was explicit in its instructions to tournament organizers to extricate the event from merchandising links between the WSOP and any of the discredited online poker sites currently involved in legal indictments issued by federal authorities in the U.S.
GamingToday.com reports the NGCB specifically warned event organizers to avoid any kind of free television advertising that could promote brand recognition of the top online poker websites. This year’s tournament will feature brand recognition logos for long-time sponsors like Jack Link’s Beef Jerky while new sponsors like GoDaddy.com, the domain registrar and web service company, will also have its logo featured during various poker events. Huge background banners promoting online poker websites familiar from past WSOP events will not be seen by television viewers this year.
While WSOP officials acknowledge they cannot dictate to a player to remove a shirt or hat bearing the logo of an online poker website, they are doing their best to follow the guidelines of the NGCB and not allow these companies prominent promotional space.
