PokerStars: Rafael Nadal Joins PokerStars

PokerStars announced on Wednesday that they have signed former ATP #1 tennis pro Rafael Nadal to their Team PokerStars roster. While one is certainly tempted to underestimate the significance of the move, it is beyond doubt a blockbuster maneuver on the part of PokerStars, and a nasty jab below the belt delivered to all their competitors.

The goal of the move is an obvious one: having recently launched Pokerstars.es to take advantage of the newly regulated Spanish market, PokerStars have now successfully secured the promotional services of a man who isn’t much short of a national hero in his country. Having signed Nadal, PokerStars are now well on their way to scooping up the lion’s share of the Spanish online poker market. PokerStars.es is already the 8th biggest online poker site traffic-wise and it currently handles more than 3 times as much traffic as 888poker.es, its nearest competitor.

Nadal isn’t the first global tennis celebrity to join PokerStars: the site signed Boris Becker back in 2007.