In the wake of last Friday’s federal indictment of gambling sites including PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, a dragnet that seized millions of dollars of what the U.S. government considers illegal gambling profits, ESPN has announced it’s dropping poker advertisements and shows from its regular programming. The Disney-owned company airs “The World Series of Poker,” among many other poker shows, and has been a chief facilitator of the sport’s spike in popularity over the last decade.
“We are aware of the indictment only through what has been announced publicly,” Bristol, Connecticut-based ESPN said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “For the immediate future, we are making efforts to remove related advertising and programming pending further review.”