GPL Signs Five-Year Agreement with JuzhongJoy
Mediarex Sports & Entertainment, the company responsible for the GPL, recently entered into an agreement with JuzhongJoy in Beijing to run GPL China's operations, distribution and sponsorships.
GPL China, which was announced in December 2016, will have an initial roster of eight teams. Already, GPL China has a multi-year agreement with Sina Sports, a digital sports property in China.
"In recent years, the pace of development [for poker in China] has been very fast, with more and more domestic competition every year," said Peng Zhang, chief executive officer of JuzhongJoy in a release on their website.* "While domestic players to participate in world-class events are also growing demand, GPL as a Global Poker League chose the best time to enter China...Through cooperation on both sides, the GPL in China can take root in China and the global poker culture can build the best platform."
Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Mediarex, said this team had more than six years of operational experience as of 2016.
"Notably, we will focus on partnering with as many mobile applications as possible," Dreyfus said. "We want to stay neutral and become the NBA of Poker in China."
Dreyfus wants to bring the success of the first season of the GPL - 180 matches and hundreds of hours of content - to China.
"Mediarex is taking time to focus on improvements in preparation for the launch of Season 2 and beyond," he said in a release by email. "With the eSports industry boom - a phenomenon which has inspired a lot of our initiatives over the past three years - we’ve decided to develop regional experiences to complement our global league."
The GPL will also support other regional initiatives, as it did with the GPL Heads-Up Challenge in France. Alongside GPL China, Mediarex will also work to launch GPL India and GPL Latin America in the near future.
"More than ever, GPL will be a global entertainment platform that connects players and fans all over the world," Dreyfus said. "This journey is not a sprint, but a marathon. As such, we’re being careful to take our time to build up the long-term vision we have."
GPL is a product of the GPI, a poker ranking authority in the poker industry.
*This quote was translated by GoogleTranslate
