WSOP returning to ESPN
https://www.espn.com/poker/story/_/id/48...
The World Series of Poker is back on ESPN.
On Thursday, ESPN and the World Series of Poker announced a multiyear agreement to bring the competition back to the media outlet's platforms this summer. The new deal is highlighted by more than 100 hours of coverage of the main event beginning on July 2, culminating in a three-night linear finale for the final table from Aug. 3 to 5.
Early-round coverage of the main event will include three simultaneous featured tables, allowing viewers to see more hands from the top players as they make their way through the tournament. World Series of Poker CEO Ty Stewart touted a "high-paced viewing experience" with the new broadcasts.
"It's with great pride that the WSOP is coming home to ESPN," Stewart said in an email. "The legacy of this partnership helped the game explode and we can't wait to deliver inspiration through world class content to a new generation of viewers."
ESPN first broadcast the main event in 1987 and has been involved in some capacity in every decade since. For much of the partnership's history, the broadcaster aired the entire tournament on a tape delay, but in 2008, the pair decided to experiment by pushing the final table several months to November, with the final players being referred to as "the November Nine."
Stewart sees the new August grand finale as a spiritual successor to that concept, with the three-week timeline being long enough to build hype, but short enough to maintain momentum. In another callback to the original format, ESPN also plans to air edited episodes with "expansive storytelling and programming," according to the release.
"Welcoming the World Series of Poker back to ESPN is a meaningful moment for fans and for us," ESPN vice president of programming and acquisitions Ashley O'Connor said in a statement. "We're excited to showcase the intensity and unpredictability of this tournament across our platforms."
Professional poker veteran Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi won the 2025 WSOP main event for his eighth bracelet overall and his first in the series' biggest game. Mizrachi took home the $10 million top prize from a pool of over $90.5 million compiled from 9,735 players, making it the third-largest Main Event in WSOP history.
You love to see it!
Good news but I’m not in favor of the 3 week delay for the ME ft.
Really makes it difficult for people who don’t live on the West Coast or have the freedom to take a month off from the real world.
Happy its back on ESPN and an excellent gap period. Might even give anyone over 50 a shot.
I like it and I like the delay!
But where do we watch day to day coverage for all the events? Didn’t PokerGo and WSOP part ways? Will non-Main events be broadcast on ESPN?
love it
it looks like all of the series will be free on the WSOP channel if I am understanding it correctly, I believe PokerGo is still involved on the production side but might not be the only place hosting it this summer or hosting it at all. I hear there is another announcement coming soon that should be a very nice addition to the content schedule.
Excited for the ESPN/Main Event partnership and don't mind giving a few weeks to actually hype it up, get to know the players, create a special production stage and then fill the place up November 9 Penn and Teller arena style. It could be inconvenient for your work if you have to set aside an additional 3-4 days and then the 3 weeks in between to prepare, do press, etc. but it seems very worth it for everyone except maybe the last place guy or if you sold all the action and aren't playing for much yourself. I think a lot of casual fans would love to watch the final table if they knew it was on and giving it 3 weeks in 2026 social media era will be massive for creating stories, getting people hype and knowing it is on in the first place.
Would love to know where they plan to host the FT and how many people they will allow in for each fandom or random fans who want to watch. I don't think the Shoe has anywhere outside the viewing theatre to host something like it.
Would love to know where they plan to host the FT and how many people they will allow in for each fandom or random fans who want to watch. I don't think the Shoe has anywhere outside the viewing theatre to host something like it.
They can put in taller bleachers for a couple of days. The ceiling where they usually have it is plenty high.
It is but 80% of that 80% would likely be worse off in 3-6 months than they were before if everyone all of sudden knew they’d just won $1M playing poker.
Most of the people making the FT are professional players. The others can probably take time off from work for $1+ million.
With the delay, the amateurs and grinders can spend a little of that $1 million on coaching.
Seems like they are going to make it good TV. With 3 featured tables, it won't be a highlight reel, but they can focus on the top players and old TV pros they picked the tables for, as well as big and interesting hands.
Having it televised again should be good for attracting new players / fish to poker.
I am assuming the delay for the final table means they will be showing edited versions rather than live, otherwise no need for a delay. The edited versions are probably better for casual viewers.
Having it televised again should be good for attracting new players / fish to poker.
I am assuming the delay for the final table means they will be showing edited versions rather than live, otherwise no need for a delay. The edited versions are probably better for casual viewers.
They are doing both sort of. They will show it live, starting on day 1 and including the final table. Then they will also have edited shows that air leading up to the final table.
From the wsop site -
"Broadcasting will begin on July 2 with Day 1A of the Main Event. Under the new agreement, poker fans can expect wall-to-wall coverage, with each tournament day receiving a minimum of six hours of programming. In total, ESPN platforms will feature approximately 100 hours of original programming per year.
In a strategic return to a "cliffhanger" television format, once the tournament reaches the final table on July 13, play will be paused. The surviving finalists will reconvene 20 days later for a live, three-day televised finale airing August 3-5 from 9pm-12am EST. During the 20-day hiatus, ESPN will air specially curated prime-time episodes to build momentum and introduce the final table competitors to a global audience"
Lol at the inconvenience part and the money not being that much. Can we just not talk about that anymore? It's silly.
The upside for players is likely increased sponsorship/patch money, regardless of who you are, you can likely at least get patched up and also get more money for being patched up since it will be on ESPN and not just pokergo.
In general, while I don't think this will cause a massive influx of players, any additional coverage/exposure to a wider audience is a good thing.
This is great news! I always questioned the wisdom of putting most of the WSOP coverage behind a paywall. It seems like you would want to disperse the coverage to as wide of an audience as possible to draw in more players.
I would think there would be more value in advertising the series and drawing in more participants (more players = more dollars for WSOP and Caesars) vs squeezing an extra $10/month or whatever out of the poker enthusiasts who are already going to be there regardless.
Hopefully there's more buzz and excitement at this year's WSOP!
They are doing both sort of. They will show it live, starting on day 1 and including the final table. Then they will also have edited shows that air leading up to the final table.From the wsop site -
"Broadcasting will begin on July 2 with Day 1A of the Main Event.This is great news, if you are an avid fan. But casual fans will not want to watch that long, and if they tried would be quite surprised to see what real poker is, where 95% of the hands are unlike what are packaged for later broadcast, as used to be the norm. So this is great if you love poker, but if you think it will broaden the pool of players, that's not likely, or at least not based on these large blocks of early days of coverage. The only hope is, as always, based on the final table.
I’m too lazy to look, but was there mention of showing non-ME events? I thought CBSSN did a fantastic job with that last year, especially the PPC.
Those mid to late 2000s ESPN and WPT broadcasts were magical to draw in fans. The quality of their edits which allowed them to not just build up personalities but also edit out a large portion of the less interesting parts of poker shown on TV (multiple hands in a row in which a single PFR results in all folds, excessive tanking, etc) allowed them to focus on a nearly carnival-style of poker which made it look like every hand was really interesting. Those two broadcasts were pivotal in bringing in new players and casual fans, just as impactful as Chris Moneymaker's story in my opinion. While pros and serious regs may get more enjoyment out of "real" poker that shows every nook and cranny, I think colorful and edited shows on ESPN, which skip ahead to interesting hands, would go a lot further towards drawing in more players which would be better for the game in the long-term. Even the old poker after dark shows and whatnot were only showing a small fraction of the total hands played and they would shove it into a 60 minute program. We need more of that.
Those mid to late 2000s ESPN and WPT broadcasts were magical to draw in fans. The quality of their edits which allowed them to not just build up personalities but also edit out a large portion of the less interesting parts of poker shown on TV (multiple hands in a row in which a single PFR results in all folds, excessive tanking, etc) allowed them to focus on a nearly carnival
Agreed. I'm very much a broken record on this subject. I'll try to keep it really simple. When you stream an event for dozens of hours, the density of memorable moments per minute is going to be much, much lower than an edited show. Contrary to what some people say, the reason why the WSOP episodes seem more "boring" post-boom is not because everyone is a soulless GTO bot, but because the content has been spread too thin. The viral 2003 WSOP is 7 episodes in its entirety, running approximately 6 hours in total length. Six hours might get you through half of day 1 in 2012.
ESPN diluted the product and degraded its quality in the process, which is part of why the ratings suffered.
Hopefully lessons were learned along the way.
I love the long streams with Nick/Ali/others, but that's a niche product for a niche audience. Short highlight shows are the right format for entertaining the casual viewer.
You would have to be crazy as a foreigner to go to the US if you need a visa/special papers to enter, if you weren't 100% sure you could reenter 3 weeks later for the ft.
The US isn't the easiest to get in, especially latelly.
