It was getting increasingly hard to ignore what was hiding in plain sight at the 2026 WSOP.
Players in the Paris tournament area caught the odd flash of the new ‘mothership’ TV set as people scurried behind the giant curtains.
They’d been briefed to say just one thing to anyone nearby: “No photos, please.”
Amazingly, the secrecy held, and no photos leaked early.
WSOP unveils huge new TV set
On Friday, the WSOP finally unveiled the new TV set. Had this been the WWE, the curtains would have dropped and pyro would have erupted.
The WSOP took a more sedate approach, but the end result was no less spectacular – with all-star players like Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu joining the scrum and taking their own videos as the set was revealed.
If you’re going to tease something for weeks and talk it up at every opportunity, it needs to deliver. The new ‘mothership’ does. Martin Kabrhel agreed: "Vamos!" he shouted.
Gone are any traces of old-fashioned branding. This is slick, modern, bright, and brash. Red, white, and black are the new colors. It looks like a sports arena, with space designed for spectators to get close to the action.
The livestream action begins with the $25K Heads-Up Championship later on Friday – a fitting showcase for the new setup. A 64-player field packed with elite names will battle for a place in Round 2 and become the first to compete on a TV stage designed to push poker further as a spectator sport.
Poker has never looked better
People have been wondering what GGPoker’s ownership would mean for the future of the WSOP, and this feels like its first major statement.
The scale of the investment is obvious. The set itself is more than 25,000 square feet and boasts 12,000 LED tiles, 17 feature tables, and a break desk for presenters. It took 8,000 man hours to build.
With ESPN back and a delayed final table, this year’s Main Event will look better than ever before – certainly a far, far cry from the last time the final table was played at Binion’s Horseshoe 21 years ago.
Spectators are welcome all summer, and entry is free, so if you’re in Vegas, it’s definitely worth experiencing in person.
If you can't make it in person, check out more photos in the gallery below.
