WSOP.com is capitalizing on the recent partnership between the NFL and Caesars Entertainment to create a new promotion that will send players on the site to this year’s Super Bowl in Miami.
The promotion, known as “Sit N’ Go to the Super Bowl,” is available to players in both Nevada and New Jersey.
Raffle Will a Award Super Bowl Trip for Two
The promotion offers players a simple way to earn raffle tickets and a chance to win Super Bowl seats. Each time a player wins an SNG with a buy-in of at least $1, they will earn one entry into a raffle for a trip for two to Miami for the Super Bowl on Feb. 2. The prize includes a $3,000 travel stipend that will be deposited into the winner’s account.
Entries can also be earned by registering for a new WSOP.com account, making a deposit, or playing in the Sunday $100,000 guaranteed tournament. Players can also earn a free entry by emailing onlinepromotions@caesars.com, and providing their name, username, and player ID. The promotion runs through Jan. 19, after which a winner will be chosen.
The NFL entered into a casino partnership with Caesars Entertainment in January. The deal was historic, as the league had never before forged such a close relationship with a gambling brand, even as other leagues and teams hopped on the legalized sports betting bandwagon.
The agreement didn’t signal a sea change in the NFL’s position, however. The league still prohibits direct relationships with sports betting sites and bookmakers, for instance, but it does allow for marketing and sponsorship deals related to casino gaming and poker, opening the door to the WSOP.com promotion.
Prize With Mainstream Appeal Could Boost Traffic
According to WSOP Vice President of Corporate Communications, Seth Palansky, this likely won’t be the last time that the site works in concert with the NFL.
This is our first promotion we are running involving our NFL sponsorship, and it extends for two months,” Palansky told Card Player. “We will continue to push this promotion, and then monitor and analyze its effectiveness and determine future opportunities from there.”
Given the expense and difficulty of finding Super Bowl tickets, there’s a good chance this promotion will attract a fair amount of attention from casual poker players, which could boost traffic at WSOP.com over the next few months. Poker players have shown time and again that they have an affinity for sports (and sports betting), and many sites have used sports-based promotions in the past — from PokerStars’ ongoing partnership with the UFC to the frequent use of global sports superstars as brand ambassadors for various operators.
If WSOP.com can generate a boost in traffic out of the Super Bowl promotion, it will be most welcome. The site – which draws on players from Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware for a shared player pool – currently averages about 200 cash game players at any time, and peaks at a little over 400 players in the evening, according to statistics at PokerScout.com.
While that once made it the largest regulated online poker room in the United States, WSOP.com has quickly been surpassed by PokerStars Pennsylvania, which is pulling in an average of about 400 cash game players at any given time.
