In recent days, the poker world has been buzzing over the skirmish that has developed between poker personality Tiffany Michelle and her employer, Poker News, which is one of the major industry news sites owned by Tony G and Jeff Lisandro. The argument centers over whether Michelle, who was bought into the World Series of Poker Main Event by Poker News, had an exclusive or non-exclusive sponsorship arrangement. She was the last woman standing in the $10,000 buy-in high stakes tournament and received an enormous amount of mainstream media attention by ESPN, USA Today, and every major industry news site for it. However, if you catch a glimpse of her in her final moments in the WSOP Main Event, it’s not just Poker News gear that you’ll see her wearing. Rather, her clothing has UltimateBet plastered all over it.
UltimateBet contacted Michelle when it was readily apparent that she would have a deep run in the WSOP. Finishing in 17th place for well over $300,000, UB secured a sponsorship in the waning moments of poker’s largest yearly tournament, drawing the ire of Poker News staff. Poker News released a statement on its website on July 14th. It clearly outlined its grievance with Michelle, saying that, while the company would “welcome such sponsorship deals between online gaming operators and players, as a company we could see no reason as to why we were left out of such negotiations, especially considering the relationships that PokerNews has with all such entities.”
To say that Tony G and Poker News were upset at Michelle would be an understatement. The Poker News release went on to say, “We are incredibly disappointed with Tiffany and her agent’s lack of respect and professionalism. We are currently seeking legal council on this entire situation and potential damages to PokerNews.” Participants at this year’s World Series of Poker were able to wear as many logos on their shirts, hat, and any other piece of clothing as possible. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack stated that he wanted to see poker players look more like NASCAR drivers. I can only imagine Phil Ivey donning 20 different logos on his shirt, including Pringles and Stacker 2. The international media attention that Poker News may have lost as a result of the presence of an UltimateBet logo on her hat could be worth millions of dollars.
If I were evaluating the Michelle/PokerNews debate objectively, I would want to know whether the agreement Michelle had with her employer was exclusive. That is, did Michelle commit herself to wearing a PokerNews logo only or did she allow her employer to determine which online poker sites she could be associated with? She commented in a statement released on July 17th, “It is very clearly a non-exclusive contract meaning that while I was expected to wear the Pokernews logo – I was in no way prevented from wearing any other logo.” She also claimed, “It’s widely known that a backer has no say or cut of a player’s sponsorship or logo deal.”
The fact that this disagreement is very public should also be a cause for alarm for both parties involved. It’s very rarely beneficial to air dirty laundry in public. In this case, the battle has been fought in the major online poker forums, on Poker News, and on a variety of websites like MacPoker.net which are feverishly trying to keep up with the latest developments.
We’ll keep you posted on this breaking news story.