WSOP on ESPN: Television Ratings Hit a Rough River

Tero · Aug 16, 2026

The wsop's return to ESPN did not reach the viewership of earlier years, says poker commentator Lance Bradley in his column on Substack.

The highest peak, close to 600k viewers was seen during the final table's head's up match. This is far away from 2009 figures when poker could hold on to two million viewers or so, to keep their attention.

We shouldn't be that surprised though. Back then, there were no Netflix, Hulu, or other streaming platforms competing for people's free time.

lcid86 · Aug 16, 2026

They really didn't promote it, and it was unclear what channel and time they were broadcasting. Not surprised ratings were down.

skaterick · Aug 18, 2026

i didn't know when any preliminary tourneys were shown . i only was able to watch 2 days of the final table and the last day head up was a dud .

WrongUsername · Aug 18, 2026

a dead game trying be promoted lol #rippoker

LUKADONCICMVP · Aug 18, 2026

ESPN put me in this poker world unfortunately, shame on their name

okeedokalee · Aug 18, 2026

I lost interest when the comments dude showed disdain for poker and was only interested when he was commentating. It was the guy who nade laboured comments about his 3 marriges and his college.
One year they played it without showng the cards and every hand played, that hooked me. We had to do our own thinking.

Poker Orifice · Aug 19, 2026

LUKADONCICMVP said:
ESPN put me in this poker world unfortunately, shame on their name

You & @WrongUsername should start up the Poker Haters CLub.

SpanRmonka · Aug 19, 2026

After years of being behind a paywall, I think we can only start to judge these numbers over a few years of being more accessible. In the UK it was still a little hard to find, I think I watched on youtube, but it was a little quirky to find it each day. ESPN is a paid for channel in the UK.
Also I couldn't watch the FT live.

600k is still a lot of people, considering there are as you say more competing thimgs to watch, including poker content such as streamers etc

valeski 28 · Aug 19, 2026

I really miss the November nines on ESPN.Unfortunately,I couldn´t watch it this time because i think it wasn´t available in my country Perú.

antonis32123 · Aug 20, 2026

that doesn't sound strange . Nowadays poker is not as popular as it used to be in the past . Of course still people watch it , but not too many . Maybe if wsop adds sth different in it's programm or presentation it will attract more viewers

monte carlo 01 · Aug 24, 2026

Watching a WSOP episode on Espn made sense in 2010 when everybody didn't have an attention span of a gnat.

fifille07 · Aug 24, 2026

That is sad… I'm more entitled to watch it on TV than online.

Jyco · Aug 24, 2026

I don't think poker is dying, but most of the people watching it are probably people who already enjoy the game and play occasionally. There are still plenty of them, but it's nothing like the old poker boom.

Back then, poker was presented in a way that made it seem like anyone could win, which encouraged more people watching to think they could eventually do the same. I feel like that sense of accessibility and excitement has been lost a bit nowadays.

skaterick · Aug 24, 2026

there likely won't be another ratings boom unless online poker becomes legal in many more US states .if that ever happens , the online poker sites will gladly spend big on advertising and ESPN, or a similar competitor , will market the shows more seriously .

KrazyKoo · Aug 27, 2026

600 000 in US cable TV ratings? This is actually good news, not bad. Streaming landscape has changed the cable TV so much that getting 1million+ is not really realistic.

I have heard that even NHL Games that are on ESPN get 600 000 viewers... although that stat was from regular season games which are also streamed on the home teams own broadcast

Of course WSOP main event is pretty big event... but still.

Shooter74 · Aug 29, 2026

I hope they continue broadcasting... I love the WSOP broadcasts on ESPN here in Brazil...

khushalprem · Aug 29, 2026

I think it's not just about poker becoming less popular. The way people watch entertainment has completely changed. Years ago, TV was the main option, but now viewers are spread across YouTube, Twitch, Netflix, and many other platforms. I believe poker still has a strong audience, but many fans prefer watching live streams, highlights, or creators online instead of traditional TV broadcasts. Different platform, same passion for the game.

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