FULL TILT POKER, the former sponsor of the Marussia Virgin F1 Racing team and UFC-related fighters and events, has had its Channel Island gambling license revoked this week by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) – signaling the brand’s likely extinction as a sponsorship name.
Full Tilt's international website, once the second largest online poker room in the world, has been out of action since its license was suspended in June, three months after the US Department of Justice indicted Full Tilt for operating a giant Ponzi scheme.
The legal action led to the gaming brand’s erasure from the livery of Virgin’s F1 Racing team, which had reached a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Full Tilt Poker in May 2010, and cut the strings on a growing portfolio of Full Tilt Poker sponsorships in UFC-related events.
Full Tilt Poker was a sponsor of individual UFC fighters such as Matt Hughes and Randy Couture, before signing as a major sponsor of Strikeforce, the fight promotion operation that was recently acquired by Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC.
Full Tilt Poker may, however, continue as a brand if new investors are willing to pay out the $300 million owed to thousands of online poker players who were allegedly defrauded by the operation.
The AGCC confirmed that the revocation of licenses related to Full Tilt Poker's website doesn't mean they can't be reactivated if the business comes under new ownership and management.
But why online poker players – and sporting organisations – would want to associate with such a discredited brand is another matter.