WPT Posts Q1 Loss, Settles Lawsuit

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WPT Enterprises Inc. reported an increased loss Tuesday and said it settled a lawsuit in which some poker players accused the company of violating antitrust laws.


WPT reported a net loss of $2.8 million (-14 cents per share), compared to a net loss of $2.3 million (-11 cents) in the same period a years earlier.


Sales for the Los Angeles-based originator of the World Poker Tour increased 10 percent to $5 million. The increase in revenue was primarily due to increases in hosting and sponsorship revenues, driven by international television sponsorship revenues from deals signed in the past year, the company said.


Separately, the company said that it settled a dispute with five poker players from the tour who accused the company of conspiring with casinos in the U.S., Canada and Europe to eliminate competition for their services.


The poker players claimed that 11 of the 12 casinos that hosted WPT’s regular tournaments signed agreements with WPT saying they wouldn’t compete with each other or let other casinos owned by their parent companies host non-WPT events. The casinos were not named in the lawsuit, which was filed in July 2006.


The players and WPT agreed to implement a players’ release for future WPT tournaments and events, according to a statement dated April 18 posted on WPT’s Web site Monday afternoon.


No money was exchanged as part of the settlement and WPT admitted no wrongdoing.


Shares in WPT closed down 2.1 percent Tuesday to $1.41.

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