WPT, Grupo Salinas & TV Azteca to Bring WPT Assets to Latin America

The World Poker Tour (WPT) has lately been making deeper inroads in live poker offerings, adding new stops and expanding its assets. In a recent move, WPT has announced a five-year strategic alliance with TV Azteca, a company of Grupo Salinas, with a massive distribution and viewership network in Mexico and across Latin America.

As part of the partnership, TV Azteca will distribute WPT’s poker content library to the Latin American audience through its free-to-air stations. It will also develop a social poker app with licensed permission from WPT and produce original, Spanish-language programs based on WPT’s content resources.

“This extraordinary deal with TV Azteca represents a historic advancement for the World Poker Tour into Latin America as WPT continues its global growth,” CEO of WPT Adam Pliska said.

He added, “Aligning with Grupo Salinas and having their full commitment behind this project enables us to leverage its extensive network of television distribution outlets, land-based casinos, social media platforms, and merchandising venues, to engage with the Latin America poker and social games market.”

Alongside this partnership, WPT’s sister firm Allied Esports has entered an agreement with TV Azteca, a company of the Grupo Salina Group to develop and launch an esports strategy in Mexico.

WPT- TV Azteca Partnership: Gaining Foothold in Mexico

TV Azteca is the numero uno sports network in Mexico and enjoys an extensive coverage of over 40 local broadcasts and regional free-to-air stations. It also provides cable packages including Netflix and HBO for the region. As part of the agreement, TV Azteca will bring WPT’s poker content library to audiences in Latin America. Its free-to-air stations reach more than 95% of the market in Mexico.

The multimedia network of TV Azteca will aggressively promote the WPT which will also introduce its premier poker events like the WPT, WPTDeepStacks, and WPT500`s across Mexico as part of the all-new WPT LATAM Tour. As of now, plans are afoot to feature two WPT Main Tour events, as well as eight WPT DeepStacks and WPT500 events each season. The first event is expected to take place within the first 12 months of the alliance.

The 17 seasons of televised WPT content will be broadcast across tens of millions of viewers. To add local flavor to the WPT programs, well-known commentators will be roped in to localize and present the programs in Spanish. The partnership will give WPT a massive advantage of publicity and outreach since TV Azteca enjoys a dominant stronghold in the Mexican market.

Also, WPT and TV Azteca will jointly produce original Spanish-language programs at the TV Azteca studios in Mexico City.

A social poker app and gaming products will subsequently be developed and introduced by TV Azteca for taking WPT content to Latin American poker enthusiasts. The social poker game will be custom developed in Spanish language. Later, poker, casino games, and other offerings will be added.

“Grupo Salinas and TV Azteca graciously welcome the World Poker Tour and Allied Esports as part of our wealth of offerings across Latin America and Mexico,” TV Azteca CEO Benjamin Salinas said. “We are fully committed to using our vast network to completely change the social gaming market in Mexico and to ensure that these games are available to all people in ways that are catered to them. By pairing with the WPT in this long-term relationship, we are taking a major step into social gaming and the global growth of poker.”

TV Azteca also plans to create a Rewards Program for this social poker app offering. According to WPT, the Rewards Program will be unlike any other in the history of social poker. TV Azteca is likely to announce its full brand offering soon.

Alongside, Group Salinas will feature WPT-branded merchandise across its stores all over Mexico and Latin America.

Allied Esports – Grupo Salinas ESports Agreement

In December 2018, it was announced that the WPT and Allied Esports International – both currently owned by Ourgame International Holdings Ltd are expected to be acquired by Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. (BRAC) to form Allied Esports Entertainment Inc.

Recognizing the vast potential that Latin America holds as an esports market, Allied Esports and Grupo Salinas have teamed up to deliver live esports experiences, related content and online platform in Mexico and throughout Latin America.

“We believe this alliance with Grupo Salinas further demonstrates the cohesive integration that can take place between WPT and Allied Esports. We expect Grupo Salinas and TV Azteca to be exceptional partners for WPT and Allied Esports in the Latin America market,” CEO of BRAC and future CFO of AESE, Ken DeCubellis said.