WSOP Returns to ESPN as Poker Given Huge Boost Ahead of Vegas Summer

The World Series of Poker has undergone sweeping changes in the past decade, with the ‘November Nine’ era of almost a decade ending in 2016. Since then, the WSOP has moved from the Rio back to the Las Vegas Strip and its present home of the Horseshoe and Paris casinos. GGPoker bought out the WSOP brand two years ago, and now the WSOP is back on mainstream TV.

The ‘August Nine’

The biggest poker tournament in the world just got even bigger. The World Series of Poker has announced a “historic multi-year agreement” to bring poker’s most prestigious event to TV poker viewers on ESPN from this summer. Starting from the summer of 2026, ESPN will provide what they have called “comprehensive coverage” of the $10,000-entry No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, more popularly known as the WSOP ‘Main Event’, culminating in a highly anticipated three-night live finale in prime time on linear television.

This year’s final table of nine players will reconvene in August, making it the first time that a table hasn’t played down to a winner with only one day’s break for ten years. The 2026 Main Event kicks off on July 2 on Day 1a. With four starting flights, two Day 2 flights and plenty of drama as players battle through the money bubble, and towards the legendary final table, ESPN cameras will be primed to bring that dramatic conclusion to life between August 3^rd and 5^th, a clear 20 days after the final table has been formed.

The agreement forms part of an overhaul of the WSOP in recent years, with many more players sent into the Main Event via GGPoker qualifiers, where a daily freeroll Avatar Race can set a player on their way to glory for no cost whatsoever. The hiring of natural storytellers such as the former award-winning PokerGO presenter Jeff Platt (below) just last month was another signal that the World Series of Poker have pivoted to a more prestigious, high-end format of poker coverage.

The ‘Perfect Time’ to Bring the World Championship Back HOME

“Returning to ESPN allows us to showcase the human drama of the Main Event like never before.”

The World Series of Poker has long been the one event that poker fans care about more than any other. In recent years, that coverage being behind the paywall of PokerGO has been of undoubted benefit to hardcore poker fans but has missed some of the mainstream millions out by the same token.

ESPN’s commitment to covering a minimum of six hours of programming from July 2 – Day 1a of the Main Event- with over 100 hours of original programming per year is a huge one. It’s wall-to-wall poker on television like the old days and Ty Stewart, CEO of the WSOP, couldn’t be happier.

“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,” he said. “Returning to ESPN – the home of our most iconic moments since 1987 – 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.”

Nine Journeys on Prime Time

“Poker is filled with unexpected storylines, and nobody is better equipped to showcase the stories more than ESPN.”

The format of this year’s WSOP Main Event also allows for more background to be unearthed on each of the nine finalists. While poker fans will no doubt know of at least half the final nine, mainstream viewers of television surely won’t, so having almost three weeks to explore the journey of each finalist seems like a brilliant idea from a narrative standpoint. ESPN say they will broadcast “specially curated prime-time episodes to build momentum and introduce the final table competitors to a global audience”.

The glory days of TV viewers rooting for their favorites to win at a table packed with different personalities are no longer a thing of poker’s past, but of the WSOP’s future. Better yet, when play returns between August 3 and 5, the ESPN broadcast will go out  from 9pm-12am Eastern Time, the perfect time for fans across America who love poker to be able to watch the drama play out.

For ESPN’s part, the television channel seem just as excited about the return of the WSOP as the operator themselves.

“We’re proud to welcome the World Series of Poker back to ESPN,” Ashley O’Connor, the Vice President of Programming & Acquisitions at ESPN said. “Poker is filled with unexpected storylines, and nobody is better equipped to showcase the stories that unfold throughout a tournament more than ESPN. Bringing the WSOP back reflects our continued commitment to delivering premium competition and that connects with fans in new and exciting ways.”

Since 2011 and its official classification as a mindsport, poker has been crying out for coverage that reflects its status as a sport and not a game. In 2026, the award-winning Omaha Productions take the helm and having brought programming such as Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli and Netflix’s Quarterback and Receiver to life, poker can look forward to its moments of high drama being given the credence they have earned.

Back in 1987, ESPN first broadcast the WSOP Main Event and while the game of poker spent some time on the road, it always felt likely that it would return to its natural home. A very different game almost four decades on, poker is now a mindsport played by millions around the world and in 2026 may attract a whole new audience of potential new players.

We can’t wait for the next world champion to be crowned in August as poker’s new era enters an exciting new phase.