World Poker Tour Announces New TV Deal With CBS Sports

The World Poker Tour has announced a new multi-year deal with CBS Sports to make the network the company’s exclusive television partner for premiere episodes. The agreement begins this month with Season XXI action.

“Since our debut on the Travel Channel back in 2002, our WPT television presence has grown significantly in both production quality and reach,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said. “We are incredibly grateful to partner with a top-tier network and cannot wait to share a wealth of premium poker programming to the vast CBS Sports audience.”

Initial episodes coming to CBS include the 2023 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship. Throughout the partnership, the network will also air all episodes from Season XXII and XXIII, including series featuring the 2023 WPT World Championship as well as the upcoming ClubWPT Gold $5 Million Invitational Freeroll.

The network has catered to poker players in recent years, including adding World Series of Poker and PokerGO coverage in 2021. The WPT now joins that poker portfolio.

“_CBS Sports Network_ is the ideal partner to elevate WPT TV and expand its reach to new households around the nation,”, WPT Vice President of Studios, Distribution and Ad Sales Loc Sondheim said. “It’s an honor to bring the excitement of poker to a network that showcases some of the biggest events in sports.”

Tour programming debuts CBS Sports Network on Nov. 14. Here’s a timeline of some of the WPT’s television and media coverage through the years.

• 2002 – The tour debuts on the Travel Channel and becomes the network’s highest-rated show at the time. The network aired the tour’s first five seasons.
• 2004 – A WPT special “Battle of Champions” tournament airs on NBC opposite CBS’s coverage of the Super Bowl pregame show.
• 2006 The WPT airs on Game Show Network (GSN) for one season.
• 2008 – The tour signs a deal with Fox Sports Net (FSN) to air 26 episode of the television show.
• 2009 – After the company is acquired by PartyGaming, episodes begin airing in Europe making use of the PartyPoker brand.
• 2014 – The company launches the WPT Alpha8 high roller series, which is shown on Fox Sports 1.
• 2015 – Free streaming service Pluto TV adds a 24/7 WPT channel. The tour also streams live final tables from various events as well on YouTube.
• 2016 – The tour again signs a five-year deal with Fox Sports regional networks (later to be known as Bally Sports).
• 2019 – A new deal is announced with BT Sport to show tour events in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
• 2019 – Another international deal is announced with TV Azteca to bring the tour to a Spanish language audience in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
• 2019 – The WatchWPT app is unveiled, allowing poker fans to view an archive of 150-plus episodes.
• 2021 – A new deal is struck with Samsung TV Plus for the show to reach viewers in United Kingdom, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
• 2024 – An new agreement is announced with CBS Sports Network in the U.S.

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