WSOP Bids Farewell to the November Nine Format
May 16, 2017 10:24 am
Back in 2007, the World Series of Poker introduced its November Nine format in which the nine finalists of the $10,000 NLHE Main Event in July went on a more than 3 month hiatus while the public got to know each individual player better. They would then return in November for three days to play down to an eventual winner, with the whole format allowing ESPN’s television coverage to be brought up to date.
A fitting nine years after it was first implemented, however, and the format has now been shelved, with this year’s nine finalists to be given just a two-day break before resuming their final push for WSOP glory. The reason behind the departure has to do with the new broadcasting schedule to be offered by ESPN and Poker Central, which will now be aired almost live (30-minute delay) from day 1 of the Main Event, all the way through to its ultimate conclusion.
This will translate into 40 hours of main event coverage each year, rising to 130 hours once overall TV airtime is included, with any coverage not shown by ESPN being streamed through Poker Central’s digital channels. Commenting on how the new format has impacted the decision to revert back to deciding the ultimate WSOP champion in July, WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, explained:
“Creating mainstream attention for poker is what has always been important to us. Not a nickname. It’s a whole new broadcast model.. Linear complimented by digital. Basically, we have “November Nine”-like programming for the entire duration of the tournament. So the goal is to build engagement each day, and core to this approach is the viewer’s expectation to pay it off while engagement is high.”
WSOP Main Event TV Coverage (ESPN, ESPN2):
July Day Time
8th: 1a 4-8pm
9th: 1b 2-6pm
11th: 2a/2b 8-11pm
12th: 2c 8-10pm
14th: 4 8-11pm
15th: 5 2-4pm
16th: 6 2-6pm
17th: 7 7-9pm
19th: Preview 10-11pm
20th: 9 to 6 9pm-TBD
21th: 6 to 3 9pm-TBD
22th: 3 to 1 9pm-TBD
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