Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR) (“Caesars”) today announced the closing of the previously announced sale of its intellectual property rights for the World Series of Poker® (“WSOP”) brand to NSUS Group Inc. (“NSUS”). As previously disclosed, the transaction includes US$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.
Caesars retains the right from NSUS to host the flagship WSOP live tournament series at its Las Vegas casinos for the next 20 years and will 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 but will otherwise be restricted from operating online peer-to-peer real-money poker operations for a specified period of time 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 going forward.
Concurrent to the transaction, several long-time WSOP executives will transition to key leadership roles within the NSUS team. Ty Stewart will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed WSOP subsidiary, while Gregory Chochon has accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer. Erik Eidissen also joins as Communications Manager. With more than 30 years of combined experience managing the WSOP brand, these employees will lead the next phase of growth and integration under new ownership.