The World Series of Poker® Signs Multi-Year Agreement With ESPN To Air Final Table Live

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 26, 2026--

The World Series of Poker (WSOP ® ) today announced a historic multi-year agreement to return poker’s most prestigious event to ESPN.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326877281/en/

Beginning in 2026, ESPN will provide comprehensive coverage of the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, better known as the WSOP ‘Main Event’, culminating in a highly anticipated three-night live finale in prime time on linear television.

The agreement signals a new era for the brand under its current ownership, prioritizing mainstream reach and high-end storytelling.

A Revitalized Tournament Format & Live Finale

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.

World-Class Production

WSOP aims to elevate the upcoming broadcast to the standards of major league sports, and has engaged award-winning Omaha Productions to help achieve this. Known for innovative hits like Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (the “ManningCast”) and Netflix’s Quarterback and Receiver, Omaha Productions will apply its signature storytelling lens to the poker table.

Official Quotes

“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,” said Ty Stewart, CEO of the WSOP. “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.”

“We’re proud to welcome the World Series of Poker back to ESPN,” said Ashley O’Connor, Vice President, Programming & Acquisitions at ESPN. “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.”

Legacy and Future

ESPN first broadcast the WSOP Main Event in 1987 and remained the dominant broadcaster of the event for decades, helping to fuel the global poker boom. This agreement restores that historic collaboration, ensuring that the next generation of world champions is crowned in prime time.

Players should follow @WSOP on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram or check WSOP.com for more news and updates on this year’s WSOP event.

About World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker ® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event and poker brand in the world, having awarded more than $4 billion in prize money over the past six decades. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament dating back to 1970. In 2025, the flagship event in Las Vegas attracted 246,960 entrants and awarded more than $481 million in prize money – both all-time records for the series. The WSOP portfolio of events includes approximately 50 WSOP Circuit Events annually across five continents, WSOP Europe (since 2007), WSOP Paradise (since 2023) and the record-breaking WSOP Online festival. International satellites to WSOP live events are hosted exclusively at GGPoker, the World’s Biggest Poker Room. For more information, please visit www.wsop.com.

All of ESPN. All in One Place.

ESPN offers its full suite of networks and services directly to fans on the ESPN App with an ESPN Unlimited subscription, providing more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, including more than 47,000 live events per year, on-demand replays, industry-leading studio shows and original programming, and more. The ESPN App gives fans a unique viewing experience that includes multiview and synchronized two-screen viewing options, swipe-able shortform vertical video and a personalized SportsCenter For You, as well as integrated game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, betting odds and information from DraftKings, sports merchandise, and more. These features are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a pay TV package from certain providers. Bundling options available for fans include a Disney+, Hulu, ESPN offering that provides a one-of-a-kind streaming package combining sports with branded and general entertainment. For more visit stream.espn.com.

World Series of Poker Returns To ESPN In Multi-Year Agreement

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators are investigating Snapchat over concerns the platform isn't doing enough to protect kids and exposing them to risks such as increased vulnerability to child predators or recruitment by criminals.

The 27-nation EU’s executive Commission said Thursday it was opening a formal investigation into Snapchat under the bloc's sweeping rule book known as the Digital Services Act that's designed to protect internet users.

The European Commission said that Snapchat requires users to be at least 13 to use the platform but it suspected that the company's “age assurance” system is “insufficient” at keeping them off.

Regulators said the platform is also exposing teens to inappropriate content because it's not properly checking whether a user is under 17. And they worried that age checking systems aren’t preventing adults from posing as minors.

The commission suspects Snapchat isn't doing enough to protect minors from being contacted by “users with harmful intent, such as sexual exploitation or recruitment for criminal activities.”

Snapchat's systems also aren't good enough at preventing underage users from seeing information about illegal or restricted products like drugs, vapes or alcohol.

Snapchat “appears to have overlooked” the DSA’s “high safety standards for all users,” said Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.

The investigation will scrutinize Snapchat’s compliance with EU legislation, she said.

Snapchat has “fully cooperated” with the Commission by “engaging proactively, transparently and working in good faith to meet the DSA’s high safety standards - and we will continue to do so throughout this investigation,” the company said in a statement.

User safety and well-being is a “top priority” and the platform is designed with “privacy and safety built in from the start, including additional protection for teens,” it said.

The probe adds to pressure that social media companies are facing on both sides of the Atlantic over the welfare of young people. On Wednesday, a California jury awarded millions of dollars in damages to a 20-year-old woman after deciding that Meta and YouTube designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well being.

Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. and TikTok were also included in the lawsuit but settled for undisclosed sums before the trial.

A day earlier, a New Mexico jury handed a $375 million penalty to Meta after determining the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Meanwhile, the EU accused TikTok earlier this year of breaching the DSA with “addictive design” features that lead to compulsive use by children, and has been investigating Facebook and Instagram since 2024 over child protection shortcomings.

Also Thursday, Brussels accused four of the world's biggest pornographic websites, Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos, of failing to protect children from adult content on their websites, following an investigation opened last year.

The Digital Services Act requires internet companies and online platforms to do more to protect European users from things like harmful content and suspect merchandise, or risk hefty fines worth up to 6% of annual revenue.

In preliminary findings, regulators said the site operators failed to “diligently identify and assess” risks to children. They criticized the sites for letting people, including minors, “self-declare” that they are over 18 by merely clicking a link, and said additional measures such as page blurring and warning labels aren't enough.

Officials said age verification tools are needed.

“Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services,” Virkkunen said.

Pornhub, Stripchat and XNXX did not respond to requests for comment while XVideos pushed back against the findings.

“The European Commission is asking us to commit suicide for nothing,” XVideos said in a statement. “Adding age checks on four sites out of a million does nothing to prevent minors from accessing adult content, as we know they will simply move to other, less safe sites that are completely out of reach of regulators — contrary to what the Commission claims — and will cause a massive regression and loss of control.”

The porn sites now have chance to formally respond to the accusations before the commission issues a final decision.

FILE- This Aug. 9, 2017, file photo shows the Youtube, left, and Snapchat apps on a mobile device in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)