Caesars closes $500M sale of World Series of Poker brand to GGPoker

Caesars on Tuesday announced the closing of the sale of its intellectual property rights for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) brand to NSUS Group (NSUS), operator of GGPoker. The transaction includes $250 million in cash and a $250 million promissory note due five years after the transaction’s closing secured by the WSOP intellectual property assets being sold.

In a statement, Caesars noted that it retains the right from NSUS to host the flagship WSOP live tournament series at its Las Vegas casinos for the next 20 years. The Horseshoe and Paris casinos have hosted the live event since it moved over from Rio in 2022.

The company will also receive a license from NSUS to continue operating its recently upgraded WSOP Online real-money poker business in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania "for the foreseeable future." However, the operator noted it "will otherwise be restricted from operating online peer-to-peer real-money poker operations for a specified period and subject to certain exceptions."

In addition, brick-and-mortar poker rooms currently operated by Caesars will continue to feature WSOP branding, and Caesars destinations will continue to enjoy preferential rights to host live WSOP Circuit events in the future.

Concurrent to the transaction, the core WSOP staff will transition within the new NSUS team, including Executive Director Ty Stewart, who joined Caesars and the WSOP in 2005 and will now take on the role of CEO. Gregory Chochon, who has been with the WSOP since 2014, will serve as COO, while Erik Eidissen will take on the role of Communications Manager.

With more than 30 years of combined experience managing the WSOP brand, Caesars stated that these executives will lead the next phase of growth and integration under new ownership.

When the deal was announced in August, Eric Hession, President of Caesars Digital, said: “We’ve enjoyed a longstanding and successful partnership with GGPoker that has helped spur the growth of the WSOP brand.

"This transaction is an exciting step for Caesars as a company and the WSOP brand as it continues to evolve. We can’t wait to see what NSUS has in store for growing the WSOP’s legacy in poker, and we look forward to continuing to deliver an unmatched and familiar experience to poker players going forward.”