Harrah's Entertainment and ESPN Finalizes New Agreement for Airing of World Series of Poker

Harrah's has signed a new agreement with ESPN that will keep the world series of poker on the air through 2018 on August 18th, 2009. The senior director of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, Doug White, said that they are very excited to continue their relationship with Harrah's to deliver the biggest and most prestigious gaming events in the whole world to poker enthusiasts across different platforms.

White said that the game of poker continues to be a solid performer for them in terms of rating and permits them to continue offering different programming to their viewers. Under the terms of the agreement, ESPN will air a minimum of thirty-two hours of event coverage every year, including a selection of bracelet poker events and the WSOP Main Event.

WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said that the WSOP is happy to call ESPN home for another 9 years. He said that this long-term deal ensures that their content will continue to reach poker enthusiasts around the world through every available medium. ESPN has been showing World Series coverage since 2003 and claims nearly 82 million US viewers watch it annually.

September 07, 2009
John Tucker