Mumbai: Poker Sports League (PSL), India's poker extravaganza, is back with a bang and has announced its partnership with JioCinema as their official streaming partner for their magnificent season five. The entire tournament will be streamed live, exclusively on JioCinema, from 22nd July with the grand finale on 20th August with a prize pool of Rs 1.5 crores.
This ground-breaking partnership is set to redefine the way viewers experience poker right from the comfort of their home, propelling PSL to new heights of excellence while delivering unparalleled entertainment.
Poker Sports League co-founder & CEO Pranav Bagai expressed his excitement about the partnership and stated, "We are thrilled to partner with JioCinema for the upcoming season of Poker Sports League. Our mission as a company is to provide entertaining experiences for all, and we believe this partnership will help us achieve that goal. With the majority of our audience being tech-savvy and preferring to consume content on OTT platforms, this partnership with JioCinema for streaming is a natural fit. We are confident that we can offer our users the best possible experience when it comes to watching live poker. We are eagerly looking forward to the season ahead."
JioCinema is one of the OTT platforms in India and this association with PSL is a testament to its commitment to bringing popular content to its audiences. The association also paves way for big brand partnerships for PSL 2023, with the promise of high visibility given the league’s immersive engaging format.
Bagai further added, “Partnering with Poker Sports League is a lucrative opportunity for urban brands who want to generate high brand visibility on an OTT platform without burning a huge hole in their pocket. PSL is 100 per cent legal to play, promote and broadcast on mainline media since our unique team - format eliminates all forms of betting and wagering. Our in-house production team can curate specific brand integrations and content for our partner brands to reach out to the massive poker-playing and viewing community in India.”
In the past few years, India's OTT market has experienced significant growth, with the widespread availability of high-speed internet access and more affordable subscription prices contributing to a 20 per cent increase. At present, the market boasts over 42 crore viewers, with 12 crore active paid OTT subscriptions. These numbers also shed light on the scale of exposure PSL 2023 packs-ups for its participants this year, truly raising the stakes of live poker higher than ever before.
Adding to the galore, PSL recently announced Pocket52, a leading online poker gaming app, as its title sponsor. As the official title sponsor of this season's PSL, Pocket52 will provide players with a secure and one-of-a-kind gaming experience to compete in the World’s biggest Poker league. Anybody who knows poker and wants to be a part of Poker Sports League Season 5 - just need to download the Pocket52 app and register and play any 6 of the 31 online qualifier tournaments, which are completely free of charge and open to all till 25 June, 2023.
The qualifiers on Pocket52 have been designed to award leaderboard points to participants based on their ranking in each tournament. Players ranking in the top-1000 position of this scoreboard stand the chance of winning prizes worth 50 lakhs - for free. The deal is far more rewarding for the top-36 players on the leaderboard who will secure a guaranteed place in one of the six teams. The base price for each qualifier will be Rs 50,000 and Pocket52 has sweetened the deal for the top 36 players by adding Rs 50,000 worth of tournament tickets. The live auction between the 6 teams will take place in Goa on 8 July followed by virtual matches from 22 July to 10 August, which allows players to compete from the comfort of their homes. The league culminates with a grand finale at a live location between 16th and 20th Aug, where the champions of Pocket52 Poker Sports League - Season 5 will be crowned.
With PSL Season 5, the Indian skill based Online Gaming Industry takes another step towards building a strong, connected, and competitive gaming culture in the country. So, get ready to witness the emergence of a new era in the realm of poker greatness with an unparalleled experience, right from engagement to viewership.
