The 2026 World Series of Poker main event is finally here, and from the first starting session through the crowning of a champion, ESPN will be on site to document it all.
For the first time since 2021, the WSOP has reunited with the broadcast network that captured the start of the ‘Moneymaker’ era more than two decades ago.
The sports broadcasting behemoth celebrated the move with a social media post featuring former NFL stars Payton Manning and Eli Manning. Payton’s Omaha Productions is set to produce this year’s coverage.
THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER IS BACK‼️
Peyton and Eli welcome its return to ESPN and the ESPN App 🍿 pic.twitter.com/KN4XFy4W9c
— ESPN (@espn) July 1, 2026
ESPN will air over 100 hours of coverage starting at 5 p.m. PDT on July 2 on ESPN+. Broadcasts will continue daily at that time through July 8, which is day 3. From day 4 through day 8 of the tournament, when the final table of nine is locked in, ESPN+ coverage starts at 12 p.m. each day and runs through the end of each day’s action.
The final table delay has returned after a decade without any extended break in action. It won’t be of the same scope as the ‘November Nine’ era, which ran from 2008 to 2016. During that span, the final table was delayed for several months before resuming in the fall. This time around, the stoppage will last only 20 days. During that stretch, ESPN will air edited, narrative-driven episodes on ESPN2. Those shows lead directly into the WSOP main event final table broadcast, which plays out from Aug. 3-5.
The first night of the WSOP main event final table is set for ESPN2, with the final two nights airing on ESPN.
A Tough Act To Follow
Michael Mizrachi Wins The 2025 WSOP Main Event
Whoever is crowned the 2026 WSOP main event champion will have a tough act to follow. A field of 9,735 players turned out for the 2025 WSOP main event, and their chance at poker immortality. It was the third-largest turnout in the history of the tournament. As a result, the prize pool swelled to $90,535,500. The man who emerged as the last player standing delivered a performance that defied historic precedent and solidified his status as an all-time great.
Michael Mizrachi won the 2025 WSOP main event for $10 million and his eighth career WSOP bracelet. That win came immediately after Mizrachi’s record fourth $50,000 Poker Players Championship victory. While the celebrations played out on stage, Mizrachi was granted immediate entry into the Poker Hall of Fame.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, on June 29, Mizrachi won another massive title, taking down the $10,000 WSOP pot-limit Omaha championship for a ninth bracelet, and another seven-figure result. The victory came one year to the day after his fourth PPC win. The law of averages would seemingly make a Mizrachi repeat in the main event an impossibility. But he’s already proven that long odds can always be beaten.
You’ll be able to watch Mizrachi’s title defense, and the journeys of the thousands hoping to follow in his footsteps, on ESPN.
Check out the full broadcast schedule below (click to enlarge).
Photo credits: WSOP / Tyler Abrams, PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.
