The Travel Channel and WPT Enterprises have resolved their dispute regarding the Professional Poker Tour. The Professional Poker Tour will now air on the Travel Channel after completion of World Poker Tour's Season IV. WPT Enterprises originally had plans to sell the Professional Poker Tour to ESPN, but the Travel Channel claimed WPT Enterprises had no authority to sign such a deal.
In September last year WPT Enterprises signed a preliminary deal with ESPN concerning the broadcast of it's new Professional Poker Tour program. Both WPT Enterprises and ESPN then received a letter from the Travel Channel in which it claimed WPT Enterprises had no authority to sign such a deal under existing contracts. WPT Enterprises disputed the claim and sued the Travel Channel for alleged breach of contract.
The Travel Channel and WPT Enterprises have now resolved their dispute regarding the Professional Poker Tour and all is well again. In a press release they state: "Both parties look forward to continuing their mutually prosperous relationship." The Professional Poker Tour will now air on the Travel Channel and not on ESPN.
The World Poker Tour is aired on the Travel Channel each Wednesday evening. Season IV will start in March and end in the third quarter of 2006. The Professional Poker Tour will then fill in the gap left by the World Poker Tour, allowing the Travel Channel to broadcast 44 consecutive "poker nights".
The Professional Poker Tour tournaments are not open to everyone. You cannot buy-in to an event, but you have to qualify for it. Either by doing exceptionally well in the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker or by being a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. The first season of the Professional Poker Tour constitutes five episodes that were filmed in Foxwoods Casino, Commerce Casino, Bay 101, the Bellagio and the Mirage.