The Global Poker League (GPL) is an initiative by the Global Poker Index (GPI) to ''sportify poker''.
The GPI aims to bring new players to the game by organizing a team poker championship (GPL) with teams representing cities from around the world.
The tournaments will be broadcasted in a very recreational-friendly way ( for example shot clocks for faster action or The Cube) and the goal is to attract new players to poker.
There are 12 so called franchises in the League:
Team Managers can draft three players on the GPL Draft Day from the GPI Top 1000 and an additional two players will be selected randomly from the rankings.
Managers are not necessarily players of the team, they can decide whether they want to draft themselves. Managers and drafted players commit to both the 2016 and 2017 season of the GPL as members of their team.
The Draft Day will be organized in Los Angeles together with the American Poker Awards on February 25 and will be streamed on Twitch.
Alex Dreyfus, owner of the GPI said the following about the news:
''The announcement of the franchises and managers is a very important step on our path. The managers are amazingly talented players and on February 25 they will be joined by the best players in the world. We are looking forward to the coming months and trust that the GPL will win over fans from all over the world.''
