ESPN will offer its first Daily Wager alternate presentation for an NBA game on Wednesday, April 14, at 4 p.m. (PT). This will be ESPN’s first official foray into alternative sports betting broadcast of a game. The company previously tested a “BetCast” of an NFL Wild Card game on ESPN+.
Alternative sports betting-themed shows similar to this have taken place regionally. This will be a national broadcast and streaming episode of ESPN’s daily betting program Daily Wager. The show will complement the traditional broadcast of the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers game on ESPN.
The regular Daily Wager cast of Doug Kezirian, Joe Fortenbaugh, and Tyler Fulghum will all be live from Las Vegas. ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins will contribute to the coverage of the Nets vs. 76ers.
The traditional game feed will take place on ESPN as usual with Mike Breen and Doris Burke behind the mics. The alternative feed will air on ESPN2 and stream on ESPN+. The broadcast will originate at the ESPN Studio at The Linq in Las Vegas.
Special Daily Wager coverage
The ESPN coverage will sound like a normal Wednesday night basketball game. The Daily Wager accompaniment will feature different sports betting discussions. The Daily Wager show won’t be a traditional play-by-play of the game.
The Daily Wager special will focus on discussions about the game as it relates to gambling. The different broadcast format will not detail every play happening like the traditional broadcast on ESPN.
Even though the alternative broadcast will feature sports betting, it won’t be exclusively talking about the point spread, moneyline, total, and prop bets. The broadcast will be more of a conversation between sports betting gurus.
The pre-game broadcast will drop sports betting info into a relatively normal broadcast. Prior to the game the commentators will make pregame picks and discuss game storylines.
During the game, there will be more in-depth discussions about game action as it relates to sports betting. The crew will look at how the game is playing out in relation to pregame odds. They’ll compare opening and closing lines to the live odds.
Throughout the broadcast, the Daily Wager crew will sprinkle in discussions about NBA betting throughout the league. They’ll look at lines and totals from other NBA games. They’ll also look at futures betting options such as NBA MVP, conference champions and NBA Finals odds.
At halftime, Daily Wager will talk about graded first-half bets while previewing second-half betting opportunities. There will also be updates on games around the league.
Caesars is ESPN’s odds provider. Caesars Sportsbooks are powered by William Hill so the odds you see in either app are what they should use for most of the discussion.
Heads up: It looks like some of the most famous players on the Nets will be out for the game tonight.
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Las Vegas still home to sports betting
Las Vegas is still a major source of gambling content. This may come as a surprise to some as legal sports betting continues to expand outside of Nevada and throughout the US. This broadcast will originate from the ESPN Studio in the middle of the Vegas Strip at The Linq.
In March, DraftKings acquired the Vegas Sports and Information Network (VSiN). The sports betting network broadcasts daily from studios inside the South Point and Circa casinos. VSiN also has remote broadcasts at a studio that looks at the BetMGM sportsbook inside Mandalay Bay.
Earlier this year, Wynn Resorts purchased the Blue Wire sports podcast network. In conjunction with this deal, the company announced it will build a broadcast studio at Wynn Las Vegas.
Caesars Palace has been home to Turner/Bleacher Report sports betting content creation since signing a deal in 2019.
Larger states with more people will surpass Nevada in sports betting revenue. That isn’t quite the death knell for sports betting in Las Vegas. Sin City still has history and vision on its side. It would not be a surprise to see more sports betting content emanating from Las Vegas.
Coincidentally, The Palazzo was sold by Las Vegas Sands earlier this year. It happens to have an empty broadcast studio waiting for someone to use.
