The Verdict on ESPN’s WSOP Coverage
For some reason or another, ESPN decided once again to tweak their coverage of the World Series of Poker. This comes after their most successful year where the controversial move to switch the Main Event from July to November paid off big-time in the form of increased ratings.
I suppose ESPN thought there was room for improvement so they decided to axe a few of the bracelet events they covered last year (most notably the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event) and add a couple of tournaments they thought would translate better to a general audience. The added events in question are the Ante Up for Africa tournament and the $40,000 Anniversary event.
From ESPN’s standpoint, the move makes sense because a general audience would probably be more interested in a celebrity-style tourney like Ante Up for Africa as well as the 40th year Anniversary event. But I don’t think the changes have been a total success from a poker standpoint.
For one thing, the celebrities in the Ante Up for Africa tournament only accomplish one thing: making poker look cool to casual viewers. Covering this event doesn’t interest hardcore poker fans and it’s only a gimmick in my opinion.
Another thing that sucks is that ESPN is only covering No-Limit Hold’em tournaments. I know this is the most popular form of poker but once again, this doesn’t appeal to ESPN’s existing poker viewers - it only seeks to bring new viewers in. I do have to mention that ESPN has done a good job of telling some good stories and showing the star poker players as much as possible. But overall, I don’t think the change in coverage will be good in the long run.