Players Network signs retail deal

Monday, Nov. 17, 2003 | 10:37 a.m.

A Las Vegas company that recently reported to regulators that it had substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern is succeeding in a transition that should reverse its fortunes, the company's president said.

Players Network Inc. reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month that it had accumulated an operating deficit of $7 million and anticipated additional operating losses and negative cash flow.

President Mark Bradley now says that the company, which produces casino and gaming television programming for cable and satellite outlets, has signed deals that will enable the distribution of its instructional gaming videos to consumers through retailers.

Bradley said the company's videos explaining how to play blackjack, craps and roulette would be sold in Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Borders Book Music & Cafe stores nationwide by the end of the month and in 300 Wal-Mart stores by the end of the year.

"It's a huge milestone in terms of (gaming's) acceptance in a store like Wal-Mart," Bradley said. "They'll have them in markets where they have gaming, so they should be in Las Vegas stores."

The mass merchandising strategy, Bradley said, is part of the company's strategy to expand beyond infomercial sales to more mainstream retailing.

In addition, the company produces television shows from a sound stage the company owns in Las Vegas.

The company in September launched a television program called "Players World" that reaches 16 million viewers on The Men's Channel, a cable outlet of The Networks Group, a subsidiary of Turner Media Group. Prior to that, the company's gaming programming was shown in hotel and casino television systems.

While Bradley acknowledged that the company was required to file documents with the SEC saying it had doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern, the latest developments with new television shows and the contracts to distribute content in mainstream locations should improve Players Network's financial status.

The company hires on the basis of its production schedule and has between six and 100 people on its payroll at any given time.