Everest Poker sues WSOP

[The Buzz]

Everest Poker filed a lawsuit Thursday against Harrah's Entertainment, the owner of the World Series of Poker, that claims the WSOP breached a sponsorship agreement.

The lawsuit claims that the WSOP breached the sponsorship agreement when an ESPN affiliate in France, RTL9, displayed the logo of Full Tilt Poker in its coverage instead of Everest Poker's logo.

Everest Poker reached a $22.5 million sponsorship deal with the WSOP back in 2008.

From the Las Vegas Sun:

The suit charges that officials with Harrah’s, Everest and ESPN met at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., in February 2009 to discuss issues with the broadcasts and that "Harrah’s and ESPN agreed to control their affiliate, RTL9, and require RTL9 to cease causing violations of the agreement during its broadcasts and transmissions into France."

But as recently as Feb. 14, 2010, the Full Tilt name and logo were included in a broadcast of a WSOP event into France by RTL9, the lawsuit charges.

"Every material breach of the agreement represents lost potential future profits, erosion of goodwill and compromise of UIM’s international business reputation," charges the lawsuit, filed by attorneys with the Las Vegas law firm Marquis & Aurbach.

[Anthony]

Interesting case, it is going to give more attention to who steps up and sponsors in 2010.