In a stunning late afternoon announcement on Friday, the famed equine organization Churchill Downs, Inc., announced the purchase of the entirety of the Bluff Media organization’s United States properties.
Although terms of the sale were not disclosed, the purchase by Churchill Downs, a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the tag “CHDN,” is viewed as a potential move by the company to enter into the online gaming business. In the press release announcing the sale, Churchill Downs representatives state, “(It is Churchill Downs) intention to further expand and build upon Bluff Media’s current content and business model…this acquisition potentially provides (Churchill Downs) with new business avenues to pursue in the event there is a liberalization of state or federal laws with respect to internet poker in the United States.”
The sale is literally for the entirety of Bluff Media’s U. S. operations. Bluff Magazine (in both its print and online versions) and several of its blogs, forums, rankings and other URLs (interestingly, such as BluffPoker.com) will be under the new ownership, but another part of the company that was purchased may be of interest to players. ThePokerDB, one of the more reliable poker databases on the internet, will also be under the Churchill Downs twin spires.
While Churchill Downs has purchased the entirety of Bluff Media, the powers that be will remain in their current positions. Co-presidents Eddy Kleid and Eric Morris, who have been at the helm of the company since its inception, and vice president of online operations Jeff Markley all will remain with Bluff Media and continue to lead the company going forward. Foreign versions of the magazine, such as Bluff Europe, are not expected to be impacted by the sale.
The sale of Bluff Media has once again sparked consideration that the movement towards federally legislated internet poker in the United States. On the Two Plus Two forum, poster ‘oneonth3run’ asks, “Anyone in the know care to speculate what this could mean in the larger picture? They must be expecting certain things to happen at the top, and I wonder how they will utilize BLUFF going forward.”
Others in the 2+2 thread picked up the discussion as to why Bluff made this move at this time. Poster ‘AdamSmall’ stated, “Bluff was a perfect acquisition target really. They’re a US-based, US-heavy poker media company that presumably got hurt badly by Black Friday. They have a lot of reach and a good amount of history in the industry, and I think between their history and their brand name they have a lot of value still. The name Bluff is a very noticeable, reputable and easy to remember name for both current and prospective customers.”
The history of Bluff has been one of the success stories of the poker industry. Starting out as a bimonthly magazine in 2004, within a year it was published on a monthly basis. The magazine became the primary challenger to one of the venerable poker publications in the industry, CardPlayer Magazine, and also has been a partner with the World Series of Poker for its online and radio coverage.
The new partnership will be a way for one of the most recognizable names in the thoroughbred industry to enter into any potential U. S. online poker industry. The owners of the namesake racetrack which hosts the Kentucky Derby, the company also has interests in other racetracks around the United States, its own website (twinspires.com), and half-ownership in Horse Racing TV, among other items. Prior to the announcement of the purchase on Friday, Churchill Downs, Inc. closed at $55.87 on the NASDAQ exchange, a $.44 drop (.78%) from their Thursday price.