Learn the Truth Behind Soulja Boy's $400 Million Deal
Tell ‘em.
On May 1, Soulja Boy shared that he was signed to a $400 million deal. Over the weekend, it was revealed that the “Crank That” rapper was talking about an endorsement deal with World Poker Fund Holdings. The press release announcing the details that SB will “mobilize his network” and join CelebrityWorld.com (a “celebrity owned social gaming site” launched by WPFH that will be integrated into their forthcoming in-flight gaming system) in order to promote the company. Forbes provides more detail regarding the procedure:
The in-flight gaming system, which the company values at $570 million using what Bird calls “traditional incentive-based gaming assumptions” about user acquisition costs and average revenue per user, came about after a recent court decision in favor of the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma. The decision allows the tribe to conduct online gaming through a .gov portal, which would make in-flight gaming feasible. WPFH bought a non-controlling 49% stake in UEG, the company working with the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma to develop the system, who themselves own 49% of the tribe’s gaming rights.
Company spokesman Matthew Bird reveals that “they issued a gaming license unlike any other gaming license in the United States, which allows [the tribe] to operate through a .gov portal.” This allows them to be unrestricted worldwide, because countries can’t block government-based sites. This will give them “an opportunity to do in-flight gaming, which Party Poker and other casinos have never been able to do.” He says that this “gives this tribe at least a year, maybe a year and a half to get a head start and capture market share.” Read more about it via Forbes and World Poker Fund’s website.