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TournamentsJuly 28, 2026·1 min read
WSOP Main Event Viewership Falls Short Ahead of Live Finale
The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event's broadcast numbers on ESPN have been lower than expected. The first hour of the episodes drew 173,000 viewers, while the second hour reached 186,000 viewers. The live finale is set for Aug. 3-5 on ESPN’s networks.
The coverage of the 2026 WSOP main event was produced by Omaha Productions, co-founded by Peyton Manning. The WSOP Live app anonymized player names as ‘featured table player’ and did not reveal finishing position until the broadcast caught up.
Jeff Platt, who signed on with WSOP as an on-air talent in January 2026, became the de facto point of communication between WSOP and the community. Alexandra Botez, a popular content creator, weighed in on the subject of paywalling poker broadcasts. Cable TV subscriptions are down from a peak of 105 million in 2010, to approximately 69 million in 2025.
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