party TV ads still running!! spotted on MLB

[MicroBob]

after the recent NYT paradise article i was curious if the other networks would get paranoid and yank the party ads even though those ads are specifically designed for their play-money site partypoker.NET (as opposed to dot-COM).


i just saw the party spot on the Fox-Baseball game of the week (i'm getting Philly vs. Atlanta here which is the B-game today i believe meaning it might be seen in only 30% of the US or so).

i think this is potentially huge:

1st - the spots are still running AFTER the NYT article. i didn't think they would be yanked....but i also didn't think some radio stations would cancel Howard Stern just because the world saw Janet Jackson's boob. so i thought there was a CHANCE (maybe a slight one) that the party ads wouldn't be seen as much.


2. this is on the Fox Network Baseball Game of the Week (i highly doubt party bought a local spot on the Memphis Fox affiliate...so it is almost definately a national spot).
to my knowledge, this is the first time i've heard of one of these spots running on a national NETWORK station.

even though the networks don't own the whole ratings-pie as they once did there is still no doubt that an ad on a National Network like Fox reaches far more households then a niche-news channel like CNBC or Fox-News (the stations that seemed to be running the party-ads the most).

i know others had reported seeing party-ads on vaious baseball games in their market or region (San Diego, baltimore, among others). but these aren't national telecasts.

those local-market spots are not nearly as big of a deal as party shelling out the dough for an ad on a nationally televised game.

additionally, i think the fact that Fox was willing to air this spot nationally is a good sign as well (again, i see no real legal problem with this currently...but broadcasters have been pretty paranoid lately).

if party is willing to air such spots on a national telecast, and Fox is willing to accept them...then there is a possibility down the road of party ads appearing during the baseball playoffs or world series or even the super-bowl (which i believe is now over $2-mil a spot).


that's long-term thinking.
for now...i'm just happy with what may be one of the first online-poker ads to appear on a national-network.

[Paul2432]

I live in Philadelphia and saw the same ad. I had many of the same thoughts as you.

Paul

[Poker Jet]

I saw PokerStars this week on the Game Show Network (GSN) so its still happening.

[ctv1116]

I saw a PrimaPoker.com ad while watching Late Night Poker last night.

[Thythe]

I know I saw a PartyPoker.COM ad about a month ago. I was specifically looking to see if it would be .net or .com and it was definitely .com. This was also on some Sports channel, can't remember which one.

[MicroBob]

maybe it's possible...but somehow i doubt it.
but you swear you were looking for it.


there are some english-speaking channels out of mexico i think that maybe reach california and texas.
or perhaps out of canada.

beyond that....maybe there was a channel that was willing to air a dot-COM spot (possible that they really didn't know any better).


more likely it was run by the local cable company and inserted into the regular programming (especially likely if you are in a pretty big market i think)..

but if game-show network is running pokerstars ads (and they don't have a play-money-only spin-off site like party to my knowledge) then maybe party just found a sports channel willing to air the real-money dot-com site.


all of this stuff is pretty cool if you ask me.
but i still think the fact that a spot ran on a national network telecast is the most exciting news of all.

you just don't get the same kind of exposure on the cable channels.

[Thythe]

Yeah I somewhat doubt myself that I saw it...but I was looking for it specifically and am pretty sure it was there. This was at a local Champs restaurant so it could have been a satelite channel and it also is a large market (Chicago) so could have been inserted into the programming.

[Bump-en-Stein]

Gess what peple: Fox is offshore and so is MLB! this is why there money is safe.

Fox is owned my Murdoch from A-team, and is run in Australia; U.S. does not have jurisdiction over there, except for Tasmania.

MLB is exempt from U.S. anti-trust laws, which means they can do what they want. They can even import illegal immigrants without paying dutys and tax. MLB is even exempt from the Wire Act. That is why Pete Rose is not in prison, because he made his bets as a MLB "employee" as player or manager and he could wire gambling info threw out the country.

[MicroBob]

Bump, you really don't know very much about some of the situations you are addressing.

the only exception here could be the Pete Rose issue in which i admit i don't know very much. he DID serve prison-time for tax-evasion however.


anyway...onto your other rather unusual points.

it hardly matters who 'owns' the Fox-Network.

it is a broadcast network on American soil and thus they are subject to American Laws, the FCC, the DOJ, etc.
(i previously worked at a Fox-TV affiliate by the way...although that's not the reason i have some knowledge in this area).

MLB's anti-trust exemption status is about as relevant in this situation as the overall cuteness of my cat.

advertising over the American stations that broadcast baseball games (including those owned by people that live overseas) are still subject to the same laws as any other programming.

for example, you don't see any TV ads for cigarettes on any American television (since 1972 i believe) just as you don't see (or hear on the radio) ads for cigarettes during baseball broadcasts.

in fact....the FCC started cracking down on bill-board ads that are clearly designed to be seen on TV. there used to be a Marlboro Billboard in the background (from outside the stadium) of every shot from first base during Chicago Cubs telecasts from Wrigley Field on WGN. i'm not positive how it was resolved...either Wrigley Field did something about the billboard or the Cubs changed their 1st base angle (i believe the former).
i think similar situations happened with NASCAR...but i don't know diddly-dickeroo about auto-racing.

this is somewhat similar to WPT's efforts to block out any images referencing ub or pokerstars or whatever.
i suspect the WSOP on ESPN will be similarly blocking images (even though they didn't bother with it last year...but that was before the latest DOJ crackdown).


off-subject - i have some audio-tapes of old baseball radio-broadcasts where the announcers are promoting cigarettes just like any other product. 'in-between innings of tonight's Mets game...why not smoke a Lucky?? take it from me, they're smooth. so take a smooth break...with Lucky.' or something kind of goofy like that.

[Bump-en-Stein]

[ QUOTE ]


MLB's anti-trust exemption status is about as relevant in this situation as the overall cuteness of my cat.



[/ QUOTE ]

Oh. I didn't no you had a cat.

[Bump-en-Stein]

[ QUOTE ]

i think similar situations happened with NASCAR...but i don't know diddly-dickeroo about auto-racing.



[/ QUOTE ]

Well, you do know something! Diddly-Dickeroo is actually one of the drivers. He's from South Carolina.

He keeps a rooster in the back seat.

[MicroBob]

Know, i do knot mention her as much so that is why you didn't no.

[MicroBob]

i thought that was Dick Trickle.