“It’s All About Content”: Gregory Chochon on the Death of the Boring Live Stream

For the World Series of Poker, marathon, unedited live streams are out; tight, narrative-driven episodic television is back in.

That’s according to WSOP Chief Operating Officer Gregory Chochon, who recently pulled back the curtain on the brand’s ambitious blueprint for the future of poker in a featured interview published by Casinos.com.

The WSOP is radically overhauling its media strategy to recapture the attention spans of today’s sports fans. How? By aggressively shifting its focus, aiming to build a media powerhouse modeled after sports leagues like the UFC.

With this as their core aim, Chochon and his team are orchestrating a massive shift in how the WSOP and poker as a whole are consumed, branded, and broadcast.

Leveraging the Power of Legacy

Driven by a deep personal connection to the game, Chochon wasn’t shy about his love for the brand and its incomparable history.

“To me, this is the best job in the world”

“To me, this is the best job in the world because it combines passion with work.”

While competing poker tours and online platforms continuously emerge to challenge the status quo, Chochon remains confident that the WSOP possesses a unique asset that cannot be bought or replicated overnight: decades of history.

“Look at what LIV is doing in golf,” says Chochon. “They [put so much] money into it. But you can’t create legacy. And that’s what we have versus anyone else, from 1970 until now.”

By combining this unmatched legacy with a high-profile return to ESPN, the WSOP is aiming to recapture prime-time relevance in an increasingly crowded media landscape.

“We’re going to create the atmosphere for something bigger happening in the next few years”

The structural changes introduced this year, such as the sleek new streaming stage setup, the return of ESPN as the Main Event’s broadcaster, and the introduction of ‘The Countdown’ pregame show, have already made this year’s summer series stand out.

But Chochon is quick to emphasize that these current upgrades are simply the foundational steps of a much larger, multi-year master plan.

“We are not there yet. Everything this year is to build for next year. That’s why we’re back on ESPN. We’re going to create the atmosphere for something bigger happening in the next few years.”

Growing the Game as a Global Sport

Perhaps the most significant cultural shift under the WSOP’s current era is the deliberate move away from the traditional “casino gambling” stigma. The ultimate goal is to elevate poker to the same cultural standing as mainstream athletic leagues.

“Our new owner has been pretty clear. The goal is to grow the game. And to grow the game, you need to consider the WSOP as a brand, as a sport, and not as gambling anymore.”

To achieve this level of mainstream prestige, the WSOP is looking at sports entities that successfully redefined their entire industries. Chochon points to mixed martial arts as the gold standard for this type of evolution.

“UFC made their brand bigger than the sport. That’s what we’re trying to do. We want WSOP to be considered part of the sport’s brand, and not as a poker brand.”

“It’s All About Content”

At the heart of this new strategy is a return to episodic storytelling. Long, unedited live streams are taking a backseat to curated, punchy narratives that highlight the human element of the game. For Chochon, the focus moving forward is absolute.

“Content. It’s all about content. What we’re trying to build here is content. It’s all about stories and bringing back poker on TV.”

To achieve this, the viewing experience itself is undergoing a major overhaul. Instead of expecting fans to sit through hours of slow play, the production is pivoting toward a faster pace designed to hook the modern viewer.

“We’re trying to move from a boring live stream where there are hours of nothing interesting happening to a more highlight style where everything we’re showing is interesting.”

Bring On 2027?

With the final stretch of the summer looming and the Main Event rapidly drawing to a close, the poker world is about to enjoy its biggest global audience of the year. Historically, the final table alone has been an incredible barometer for the game’s health, with this year’s Main Event the fourth-largest in history.

Whether the radical production overhauls bear maximum fruit in time for this year’s world champion to be crowned, or if fans will have to wait until next summer to see the full scale of the new vision realized, one thing is certain: Chochon is a man on a mission, and 2026 marks the undeniable dawn of a whole new WSOP experience.

Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor.

He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.