Poker Writer
The World Series of Poker main event will return to ESPN, with the final table shown on mainstream prime-time TV from Aug. 3-5. It’s ESPN’s first time broadcasting poker’s biggest tournament since 2019.
After the 2026 WSOP schedule release revealed a delayed main event final table, there was widespread speculation as to the cause of the delay. As PokerScout accurately predicted, the delay is thanks to the big move back to ESPN.
Ty Stewart of the WSOP was excited to share the news in the official press release:
The World Series of Poker is a global phenomenon that transcends the gaming category, and our goal is to bring it to the widest possible audience. Returning to ESPN – the home of our most iconic moments since 1978 – allows us to showcase the human drama of the Main Event like never before. With our new ownership’s commitment to growth, this is the perfect time to bring the World Championship back to the biggest stage in sports.
Three-Week Delay Leading to Televised Main Event Final Table
The ESPN broadcast of the final table will happen 20 days after the final table is set on July 13. ESPN will film the main event in its entirety starting July 2 and use the footage to curate prime-time episodes which will run in the three-week delay between July 13 and Aug. 3.
The episodes are meant to build interest and momentum for the final table. It will focus on those who make the final table and any other interesting storylines that emerge. The episodes will culminate in the live final table over three nights in early August.
History of the WSOP Main Event on ESPN
The WSOP main event became a staple of ESPN programming in the early 2000s. The first long-form coverage of the event was in 2002, but it truly became mainstream in 2003 when Chris Moneymaker won and became a household name. Moneymaker’s everyman Cinderella story win, and the enhanced ESPN coverage that made poker exciting created the “poker boom.”
The main event remained popular on ESPN throughout the 2000s with tape-delayed episodes. In 2008, the November Nine era began, as the WSOP delayed the final table until November to build storylines. In 2010, ESPN broadcast the final table live in its entirety, with no edited hands, for the first time. The November Nine era continued through 2016, before the WSOP returned to a July final table in 2017.
The main event remained on ESPN for just three more years, ending in 2019. Coverage then moved to CBS Sports Network. The coverage on CBS never matched that on ESPN, as the main event faltered with mainstream audiences.
WSOP’s Return to ESPN Should Help Garner More Interest
This move is critical for bringing the WSOP to mainstream viewers.
The WSOP being on the most popular sports station in the nation will lead to it being on more casually in homes across the country. Far more people will just turn it on out of curiosity, just as they did in the 2000s, leading to the boom in poker interest. It will put poker on thousands of TVs in restaurants and sports bars around the country.
Perhaps even more impactful than TV is its effect on social media. The ESPN and SportsCenter X accounts will now be able to post main event hands, garnering millions of valuable views that the poker would not otherwise receive.
