GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 10 - Sept 2009

ship with any BodogBrand.com licensee, serving as a Bodog brand ambassador is somethinghe iswilling todo for anynew licensee should the need arise. As Calvin himself explains, “I am primarily focus- ing on branded venture capital or licens- ing and launching media ventures that support the branded venture capital and licensing operations.” Translation into English: Calvin still retains at least apar- tial interest in theBodogbrand, he is still involvedwith BodogBrand.com, they are always looking for more licensing deals, andhe isworkingon twonewmediaproj- ects, Bodog lifestyle digital content and CalvinAyre.com, both of which comple- ment theBodogbrand. See?Simple. BodogBrand.com is reborn Besides embarking on adventurous and luxurious vacations around the world, let’s take a closer look at what Calvin’s beenup to sinceMay 2008, startingwith BodogBrand.com. From the beginning, Calvin’s vision for the Bodog brand has always remained the same: Bodog will become a global, inclusive digital entertainment and lifestyle brand, with a structure andmodel similar toRichard Branson’s Virgin brand. Although not commonly known, BodogBrand.com was born in 2005 and the first two licensees were BodogMusic and Bodog Fight, both of which succeeded in attractingmillions of viewers. At present, there are three Bodog brand licensees that are within theonlinegamingspaceand BodogBrand.com is actively evaluatingnon-gaming licensees. As previously explained, the first online gaming licensee to strike a deal with Calvin and the Bodog brand was MMGG, a U.S.-facing business, operating at bodog.com. The next licensee was Bodog Europe, the U.K. and future Canadian-facing business, operating at bodog.co.uk and bodog.ca. The most recent is Haydock Sports, an Asian-facing business,operatingatBodog88.com.An upcoming licensee is expected tobea stand-alone Bodog-branded poker network, operating at bodogpoker. com, the details of which will be announcedthismonth.Other longer- term plans include identifying the right group to open up South America to Bodog in addition to signing on other licensees from othernon-gamingareas,bothdigital andnon-digital. The absolute beauty and power of this licensing model is that all the current and potential licensees, both gaming and non-gaming, can feedoff theBodogbrand strength and use it to their advantage. Rather than compete against each other, the individual success of each licensee helps to lift the others, and as a direct result, theBodogbrand continues togrow exponentially. “I believe the Bodog brand will be on many different products and services,”Calvinclaims. “TheBodogbrand isgoing tobemassivewhenwe’redone.” SunnyAntigua,beautiful home toCalvinAyre Youwould think that a person like Calvin would choose to live in London, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Rome, Vegas, Berlin, Moscow or I don’t know, maybe even Ibiza. But Antigua? Why Antigua since 2006?Actually, the answer is pretty straightforward and makes perfect sense whenyou thinkabout it. “Before I stepped down frommy role in theonlinegambling world,pre-2006Bodoghadisheadquarters andwas licensed in Antigua, so naturally I spent a great deal of time here,” Calvin explains. To further prove his reasoning, BodogBrand.com is alsoheadquartered in Antigua, so itwasalmost essential forhim to remainon island to stayconnected. 33