text: jeffrey pollack for the film director and television producer , see jeff pollack . for the music and media consultant , see jeff pollack . jeffrey pollack ( born circa 1965 ) is a sports business consultant and former commissioner of the world series of poker . he was educated at northwestern university , the graduate school of political management and the university of massachusetts amherst . pollack later completed the advanced management program at harvard university . after a brief career in politics , pollack moved into the industry of sports business where he ’ s held executive roles with the nba , nascar , and the world series of poker ( wsop ) . pollack was listed on the first of sports business journal 's " 40 under 40 " and twice to the sporting news 100 . he has also won two emmy awards . pollack is married , and resides in both los angeles and las vegas . his half - brother is gary bettman , the commissioner of the national hockey league . in 2011 , pollack launched federated sports + gaming ( fs + g ) and the epic poker league , where he served as executive chairman . within a year , fs + g had filed bankruptcy . in early 2015 , pollack was hired as special advisor to the san diego chargers . education and early career pollack received his undergraduate degree in journalism from northwestern university , in addition to two master 's degrees . the first master 's was from the graduate school of political management and his second was in sports management from the university of massachusetts amherst . pollack subsequently completed the advanced management program at harvard university . initially , pollack ’ s career led into politics . a summer internship with the american jewish congress prompted a one - year role with the ajc . he worked as a lobbyist on legislation that would permit religious headwear for active military personal in noncombat settings . pollack then relocated to los angeles to work for winner & associates , a leading political public relations firm . he was assigned to consult the major baseball league during the labor strife in the early - 1990s . the inception of pollack ’ s career in sports business occurred in 1992 when he realized — while flying from la to new york — that there was a niche to fill in the industry . in february 1994 , at the age of 29 , pollack founded the sports business daily . it was the first daily trade publication for the sports industry . pollack modelled the concept for the sports business daily on the political daily the hotline . its primary goal was to “ cover the coverage , ” or aggregate and organize daily news that was related to business of sports doug bailey , the hotline 's founder , was jeffrey pollack 's partner in this venture . pollack later noted that bailey ’ s influence was “ absolutely critical ” to the initial success of the daily . the sports business daily originally occupied 3 rooms in the same building and initially hired the hotline 's stephen bilafer as the editor - in - chief . fellow editor chuck todd followed bilafer in the move from the hotline to the daily . bilafer would go on to note that it would have been a “ deal breaker ” had todd not been permitted to join him at the sbd . after assembling a small editorial , marketing and sales team , the sports business daily launched on september 12 , 1994 amidst the “ perfect storm of business and sports stories . ” with pollack as its president and publisher , the sports business daily garnered a strong reputation among to decision - makers in the industry . when the time the sports business daily was sold in 1996 , it was a " recognized leader in sports industry news and is relied upon by top sports , entertainment , financial , and media executives worldwide . " at the time of the sale , the sports business daily provided the content for espn 's " industry insider . " pollack 's career with the nba began when he was hired as a communications consultant for the nba during its collective bargaining arrangement . pollack consulted with nba commissioner david stern and helped design the relaunch strategy after the nba lockout in the 1998 – 99 season . as a result of these activities , pollack was hired as the vice president of marketing & corporate communications for the nba . he remained with the league until 2000 . after a brief stint with a sports website , which pollack once termed his “ reverse mba , ” he was hired as the managing director of broadcasting and new media for nascar digital entertainment . nascar had recently consolidated its media rights and the brand reoriented the way it presented itself to consumer product and global media companies . pollack helped develop nascar 's television partnerships with fox , fx , nbc and tnt and it was under his guidance that nascar grew into a major sporting event . at the time , it rose to the “ second - most - watched on cable tv , behind football . " pollack also encouraged nascar to use advanced media and technologies . one of his central innovations was to create an immersive experience for viewers at home . he helped developed the cable tv program , nascar car , which involved mounting cameras that could capture the race from inside the cars . [ 15 ] pollack won two emmy awards , as a result : the primetime emmy for outstanding achievement in interactive television programming and a sports emmy for outstanding innovative technical achievement . he was also the first to receive the billboard digital entertainment award for the best interactive television programming . world series of poker in 2005 , harrah 's casino hired pollack as its vice president of marketing . while he was officially responsible for harrah ’ s sports ventures , which included boxing and motor sports , pollack stated that , " my top priority is to grow the popularity of the world series of poker … it is already the no. 1 brand in poker , but we 're going to make it even stronger through world - class media partnerships , strategic marketing alliances and superior customer service . " by most accounts , he succeeded doing just this . pollack introduced a range of changes into the wsop ’ s media relations , player relations , tournament structure and schedule , and expanded into international markets . his first responsibility with harrah 's was the 2005 world series of poker . poker players ' first impression of him centered on the 2005 tournament of champions ( toc ) . the toc was hyped as a $ 2 . 5 million for which players had to qualify . in 2005 , the toc was sponsored by pepsi , who was about to start an advertising campaign involving doyle brunson , johnny chan , and phil hellmuth . pepsi insisted that its three spokesmen take part in the toc and the wsop consented . the other players objected that three corporate exemptions were granted at the last moment . pollack was heavily criticized , but addressed the criticism head on and ensured that a similar misstep would never occur . wsop changes on january 13 , 2006 he was promoted to commissioner of the wsop . one of his first actions as the commissioner was to work towards avoiding the criticism of the toc . pollack started meeting with a group of professional poker players in a monthly council . while the council did not have formal decision - making authority , pollack stated in 2009 that “ we haven ’ t made a meaningful decision about event schedules , structures , rules , et cetera , since 2006 without the input of the players advisory council . ” pollack believed that the success of the wsop was not determined based upon the number of participants every year , but rather upon the players ' experiences . for example , in 2007 the wsop flattened its award structure . the cash awards were distributed more evenly so that people who went out earlier earned more money , while those who made it to the final table won less . in an effort to reduce complaints about marked cards , the wsop entered into a partnership with united states playing card company ( ) . introduced a new " poker peek " cards as the official card of the wsop . new decks were introduced every day at every table . in 2006 , provided playing cards that became creased as the events endured , resulting in cards that were essentially marked . the training of wsop dealers was also heavily criticized in past tournaments . in an effort to forestall this criticism , the wsop began intensive training for dealers as early as march 2007 for over 300 dealers . the training included staff and supervisory training . part of the reason for this additional training was to prevent a repeat of the " extra chips " that materialized during 2006 's main event . during the 2006 main event , the tournament finished with more chips than normal chip upgrading would have led to . another effort to reduce that risk was the introduction of special chips exclusively for the main event . in 2008 , pollack revised the tournament ’ s schedule and introduced a four - month break after the finalists had been determined in july . the hiatus was intended to help build suspense and allow the finalists to promote themselves as “ poker ambassadors ” before play resumed in november . the final two days of play were edited down to a two - hour show and broadcast on espn . pollack also led the tournament ’ s international expansion with wsop europe . the first tournament was held in london and hosted by london clubs international at three casinos : the fifty , leicester square and the sportsman . pollack insisted , “ the world series of poker europe will have a unique identity , style and flair , but will remain true to the 38 - year tradition and heritage of the wsop . ” the wsope remained in england from 2007 - 2010 , was hosted in france from 2010 - 2013 and is expected to be hosted in berlin in 2015 . marketing pollack is known for his aggressive marketing . he ’ s noted on several occasions that he ’ s taken the strategies of the major sports brands , i.e. nascar , the nba , and the nfl , and extracted the best practices to grow the wsop . he has asserted , moreover , that “ [ s ] ports marketing fundamentally is about the selling of hope . fans have the hope of their favorite team trading for the right player , drafting the right player , winning a game , winning the season , winning the world championship . ” and furthermore that , “ [ t ] he world series of poker offers a brand of hope that is infinitely more accessible ” insofar as anyone can enter the tournament and have a chance to play at the final table . after becoming the commissioner of the wsop , he negotiated partnerships with espn , sirius radio , glu mobile , bluff media , aol , and . he also arranged sponsorships with miller brewing company , planters and hershey ’ s . in 2006 , card player media provided hand - by - hand reporting , streamed player interviews , gave player recaps and displayed real - time chip count on its website . once pollack was asked if professional poker players would start wearing uniforms covered with ads , similar to nascar . he responded , " that is not out of the realm of possibility . as long as they stick to the guidelines , players will be allowed to seek endorsement deals and advertise as they wish . " pollack believed that the strength in the wsop lies in its tradition and legacy . he wanted to do more to honor the wsop 's past champions , " i want to bring our past , our history , and our dna along for the ride . " reception by players pollack was generally received well by the players , although he did have dissenters . daniel negreanu was impressed with his first meeting with pollack , noting that professional poker is " a unique situation , as with the nba players are being paid , while the poker players actually put up their own money . " however , by 2012 , negreanu had changed his opinion of pollack , crediting wsop vice president ty stewart and others for the event 's growth and popularity . on the other hand , pollack ’ s emphasis on the player ’ s experience along with his effectiveness in growing the wsop cast him in a good light . this can be seen most clearly through the extent of support he received when he announced his resignation as commissioner . one commentator declared , “ the news hit the poker world … like a ton of bricks , ” and that his tenure in the role “ may be unmatched . ” well - known players like phil hellmuth , peter eastgate and barry goldstein expressed their esteem for pollack . resignation on november 13 , 2009 , pollack announced on his twitter feed that he was resigning as commissioner . in a separate statement , he commented , “ everything i set out to accomplish in 2005 , i think i have accomplished . the world series of poker is bigger than ever before . the brand is in a strong position and the player experience is better than it 's ever been . ” pollock did not elaborate on any subsequent career opportunities , but said , " i 'm going to take a moment to pause and reflect , then will think things through and make some decisions , " epic poker league in january 2011 , pollack and annie duke announced the launch of federated sports + gaming ( fs + g ) , the parent company for the epic poker league . duke served as the league ’ s commissioner . the epl was designed to showcase the best players in the world and elevate them to the status of leading figures akin to icons in other sports . there was to be 200 players admitted and ranked by a system “ driven by mathematics and proven historic achievement . ” pollack stated , “ i ’ ve long believed that the top professional poker players create enormous value for the industry and are skilled in a way that is worthy of star treatment , ” and moreover that , “ [ o ] ur new league will celebrate poker professionals like never before and provide a tournament experience at the palms that is first - class at every turn . ” the first season of the epl was slated to include four “ rake - free ” $ 20 , 000 main events , in addition to a $ 1 million championship event . the epl had negotiated 20 hours of television programming . seven of which were to be aired on cbs and the remaining 13 on discovery communications ’ velocity network . from early on , industry insiders questioned the company 's business model . by february 2012 , after only holding three events , fs + g had filed bankruptcy , generating just over $ 38 , 000 in revenue and accumulating up to $ 7 million in debt . advisor to the chargers in early 2015 , the san diego chargers hired pollack as a special advisor to the team ’ s chair and president dean spanos . pollack will serve to consult the team on both future revenue growth and the development of a new stadium . pollock aided chargers special council mark in the hiring and identifying of manica , the architects tasked with designing a stadium in carson , california .