World Poker Tour Finds a New Home (game)

Fox sports recently made a deal with the WPT Enterprises, and now Fox will be airing Season VII of the WPT. The plan is in place to have a whooping 26 episodes, airing one each Sunday during the prime time slot. The episodes will be an hour long each. The regular voices of Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton will be along to the new network, and the season begins with the recently won Bellagio Cup.

Fox Sports is an amazing network to be a part of, as it already is home to the Daytona 500, many formula one races, and some live NASCAR racing. Fox Sports has also been the exclusive carrier of the World Series of Major League Baseball for almost a decade. Fox covers every kind of sport imaginable

from European football to ice hockey. It is seriously great that now poker can call one of the best sports channels ever as its new broadcaster.

The WPT has been hopping around networks over the years, not surprising for poker on TV, not always the most intriguing show for the masses who tune in for high paced sports like American Football. For the rest of us who love poker, this is welcome news, as FSN is surely going to be a great network. Previously the WPT has been on the Travel Channel, where it debuted, and lasted for 5 seasons. This is where it all started, and after a somewhat rocky relationship between the Travel Channel and the WPT, the poker tour ended up on the Game Show Network for season six. For whatever reason, the GSN decided to let go of the WPT, leading to the signing with Fox. FSN is one of the greatest sports channels there is, so this is probably going to be a major success. The ratings have always done well for WPT, so this should be no different.

Steve Libscomb, founder and CEO of the WPT was quoted as saying " FSN and News Corporation are two incredible powerhouses in the television industry that have played key roles in the growth and popularity of televised poker. It couldn't be a better fit for WPT and our fans. We're thrilled." We at PokerNews are also thrilled, as this is the kind of exposure poker deserves.

Hopefully they will find a great recipe for success this season, much like the first few seasons with Shania Hiatt on the show. These were the seasons that defined the show, and professional poker, to a large extent. Luckily FSN has been no stranger to hosting poker related television in the past, so the productions will be very good. The ratings have been slowly slipping ever since the first couple of seasons, so hopefully FSN will show its might and turn this around. There sure have been some memorable final tables in the past, like the Doyle Brunson win at the Bike, and season one episodes of Antonio Esfandiari beating up on Phil Hellmuth.

We can't wait to see the super slow fox high def replays of Scotty Nguyen spilling his beers. Stay tuned for the schedule and more details as they are announced, when they are announced.

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