Global Poker League Lands Major Media Deal in China

April 24th, 2016 | by Brian Corlisse

The GPL lands another high-profile media partnership which could attract 40 million new poker fans. (Image: youtube.com)

The Global Poker League (GPL) will soon be exposed to more than 40 million Chinese sports fans thanks to a recent deal with Sina Sports.

Currently ranked as the leading online sports platform in China, Sina Sports boasts a daily traffic flow of 15 million online users and 26 million mobile visitors.

This combined activity has made Sina Sports the fourth largest website in China and the perfect partner for the GPL and one of its 12 franchises, the Hong Kong All Stars.

“This is exciting for us because we want locally relevant standouts of the game involved alongside poker’s global stars – it helps expose this sport to new audiences, such as those in China, that may be less familiar with the poker world,” explained GPL President, Alex Dreyfus.

Another Outlet of the GPL

The GPL is currently broadcast on various platforms, including XBOX, Amazon Fire, Twitch and PokerCentral, and the latest deal will see Sina Sports stream more than 400 hours of live content via specially designed poker section inside its site.

There’s no doubt the latest deal will help increase interest in the GPL and help to make it the global sports product Dreyfus believes it can be.

As well as offering up a potential viewership of more than 40 million people, Sina Sports will be hosting poker content alongside an array of mainstream sports.

From coverage of soccer teams such as Manchester United to the latest news from the NBA, Sina Sports is a highly credible media platform and the fact poker will now be among the daily news stream should boost the reputation of the GPL and the game as a whole.

GPL Helping to Sportify Poker

In addition to creating a new fan base through its partnership with Sina Sports, the GPL scored another coup recently when Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul became a star player for LA Sunset.

Under the captaincy of Maria Ho, Paul will play in a variety of GPL events which should help generate a huge amount of interest thanks to his status as a Hollywood actor.

Indeed, with 2.5 million Twitter followers and some sway with many of the world’s leading media outlets, Paul’s presence on the GPL should help to attract new fans in the coming weeks and months.

Sina Sports’ coverage of the GPL will start next month when fans of the game will be able to see the Hong Kong Stars take on franchises such as the Moscow Wolverines and the London Royals in a series of online battles.