Should poker fans worry about the low TV ratings of WSOP 2026 on ESPN?

The 2026 WSOP Main Event didn't garner as much viewership on ESPN as it did during the poker boom of the 2000s, but cable TV subscriptions had declined by 40%, and the WSOP still attracted 9,200 players, the fourth highest number ever. Viewership ratings aren't the only indicator of poker's popularity.

The announcement a few months ago that the WSOP Main Event would return to ESPN for the first time since COVID-19 has generated some excitement in the poker industry.

Broadcasting poker tournaments on America's largest sports network should have attracted recreational players back, much like it did during the Chris Moneymaker era. The three-week gap between Day 8 and the final table also helped build up interest in the players. However, the final table ratings are in, and as Lance Bradley reported, television viewership hasn't met the enthusiastic expectations before the WSOP.

Bradley once ESPN.com Reporting on the series, he published the data in his Substack column on Saturday. He pointed out that the first final table night, which aired on ESPN2 on August 3, did not crack the top 100 in cable television ratings, so there was no relevant viewership data in the Nielsen report.

The following day, broadcast on the main ESPN channel (with seven players remaining), the show drew 451,000 viewers, while 593,000 watched Lucas Jumalon defeat Lauri Saaskilahti in heads-up play to win $10 million and a gold bracelet. These numbers are not impressive compared to the viewership of the WSOP Main Event on ESPN in the 2000s. As Bradley points out, over 2 million people watched Joe Cada become the youngest world champion in history in 2009.

The previous year, 1.9 million households watched Peter Eastgate win the Main Event. But these numbers don't tell the whole story.

Cable television is no longer what it was in 2009.

If you're disappointed with the WSOP ratings, don't be. The 2026 WSOP Main Event viewership is significantly higher than during the CBS Sports era.

Moreover, you must consider that cable television is no longer what it was during the poker craze. According to data from the Pew Research Center, cable television subscriptions have declined by 401 TP3T since the 2010s, and currently only about 321 TP3T to 361 TP3T of American households still maintain traditional cable or satellite television subscriptions.

Many households have replaced cable TV with streaming services like YouTube TV, or abandoned cable TV altogether in favor of Netflix and Hulu. People are consuming media in different ways today, especially the younger generation.

Some people don't watch the entire live stream, preferring to get poker content through short videos. The WSOP releases daily highlights of the final table on YouTube, garnering nearly a million views. These videos provide ample satisfaction for poker fans who don't want to watch the full live stream. Not to mention, clips of WSOP hands and interviews are ubiquitous on social media.

Therefore, while WSOP viewership on ESPN has declined compared to the 2000s, this was to be expected. Furthermore, the final table lacked mainstream star power. The 2009 final table featured Michael Mizrachi or Phil Ivey, while this year's final table lacked such superstars.

In this day and age, do TV ratings for the main event really matter? You can decide for yourself, but for poker players, what matters most is the booming poker rooms around the world, with the WSOP, the World Poker Tour (WPT), and even your local daily tournaments continuously attracting players.

Casual and recreational players may not watch ESPN as much as they did in 2006, but they still appear at the WSOP and play some $1/$3 No-Limit Hold'em in Texas or California.

Poker shone brightly again this summer, proving that the game's popularity remains strong. Over 9,200 players are vying for the 2026 WSOP Main Event, the fourth-highest number of participants in history. No need to worry about low television ratings.

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