World Series of Golf (WSGF) conducts golf tournaments for celebrities and popular athletes under a patent-pending scoring formula that is akin to the wildly popular Texas hold ’em poker tournaments seen on television. In addition, the company publishes GolfWorld, a weekly subscriber based publication, and Vegas Golfer magazine, which provides a special annual issue covering the World Series of Golf. The company also sells various World Series of Golf logo and branded merchandise through its online store.
World Series of Golf’s tournaments feature many of the same principles as televised poker events. Each year, CBS airs a World Series of Golf tournament for amateurs only featuring a $10,000 “buy in” and wagering on every shot by the various participants. Players are divided into groups of four for each tournament and can bet or decline a bet on each shot, much the same way poker players can bet on each hand of a game. The company uses corporate partnerships with partners such as MGM Mirage and Full Tilt Poker to promote its events.
In August, World Series of Golf said it inked an agreement with Europe’s Sentanta Sports to have four of its events broadcast in Europe by Sentanta. The events will air about 20 times via repeats, the company said. World Series of Golf’s first event took place in Las Vegas last year. In addition, the company has a partnership with World Golf Tour to foster online participation in its events via wagering by viewers. Since the company’s online game is not considered betting, it is able to skirt US laws forbidding sports gambling over the Internet.
Investors should note that Nevada-based World Series of Golf doesn’t yet regularly report its finances to the public and the company has yet to turn a profit. For 2007, the company had revenue of $2.4 million. On Tuesday, shares of World Series of Golf closed at 10.5 cents and have traded between 3 cents and $4.50 over the past 52 weeks. The company has 21.6 million shares outstanding and market capitalization of $2.48 million.
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