Televised Poker Reduced in Wake of Online Poker Shutdown

As times passes, the width and depth of the fallout from “Black Friday” has become more and more apparent. First, attention was paid to the rooms themselves, as well as the 11 defendants named by the US government; attention then turned to the players in the United States who had lost the ability to play at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the Cereus Network. Today, another piece of the puzzle came to light, as ESPN and other programmers have announced dramatic cuts in the amount of poker programming they’ll be airing on their television networks.

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ESPN announced Monday that they will be removing poker advertising from their channel and website, and will be seriously restricting their televised poker programming as well. While details on this move remain unclear, it seems as though the main targets will be programming tied to major online poker rooms – such as the North American Poker Tour, which is operated by PokerStars. The NAPT was scheduled to begin airing on ESPN Tuesday night.

However, one important part of the ESPN poker empire will still be airing. According to a tweet from Andrew Feldman, who writes about poker for ESPN.com, ESPN will still be covering the World Series of Poker. It is likely that ESPN feels that the WSOP brand is strong enough to attract advertisers even without online poker companies, as the tournaments are popular even among casual poker players who have never tried online poker.

But ESPN is not the only company scaling back or eliminating their poker coverage entirely in the aftermath of last Friday’s events. According to Bluff Magazine, sources close to Fox have said that both The Million Dollar Challenge and The Big Game will no longer be airing on the Fox family of networks. Both shows were backed by PokerStars.

According to Cardplayer.com, various networks had 47 poker shows scheduled to air this week (with reruns included in that total). Though networks have not yet commented on the fates of many shows, here are a few big names to watch in the coming days:

World Poker Tour: The WPT is now broadcast on Fox Sports Net. As the brand with the widest reach outside of the WSOP, it is likely that World Poker Tour coverage will remain televised; a relationship with PartyGaming may not be a factor, as Party left the US market after the UIGEA laws were passed.

Poker After Dark: While the connection isn’t always obvious, Full Tilt Poker is heavily involved with Poker After Dark, meaning that NBC may back away from airing the show.

High Stakes Poker: PokerStars is an official sponsor of the show; whether the show can exist without its support is unknown, as for many years there was no official link between HSP and any online poker sites.

National Heads-Up Poker Championship: As a popular brand name and with no official links to online poker, the prospects seem good for this valuable NBC franchise.