John Wall of the Washington Wizards shoots during the first half at Capital One Arena on Jan. 15, 2018. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
NBC Sports Washington will produce an alternative broadcast centered on in-game betting when the Washington Wizards play the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 11. That game will be the first of eight betting-oriented Wizards games that the network plans to air this season, according to Sports Business Journal.
The regional sports network’s overflow channel, NBC Sports Washington Plus, will carry the interactive live betting broadcast of the Wizards-Bucks matchup. Game announcers and advertising breaks will be the same as the RSN’s normal feed, but the screen will integrate statistics, odds, and point spreads.
“We’ve been lucky because sports betting has rolled out in a way that has overlapped with our RSNs,” said David Preschlack, president of NBC Sports Regional Networks, according to SBJ. “We’re trying to figure out ways to appeal to casual sports bettors to make the games more interesting … One of the real differentiators of the RSNs business is being able to try new things in different markets.”
At least initially, the feed is likely to appeal more to fantasy sports players than hardcore bettors, but it may set up real betting in the future. A free “Predict the Game” sweepstakes will involve simple questions such as how many points a specific player will score in a quarter or how many assists a player will reach in a half. Fans can visit NBC Sports Washington’s website to answer those questions for a chance to win $500.
“It’s the 1.0 version of where we’re ultimately going,” said Zach Leonsis, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Wizards. “This will get more advanced … The challenge for operators will be to make sure that the game play is supportive and not interruptive of the broadcast itself.”
SportTechie Takeaway
This past December, Washington, D.C.’s City Council voted to legalize sports gambling. That decision came just a few weeks after lawmakers and sports betting executives met in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Sports Betting Policy Summit. NBC Washington is going all-in on sports betting in 2019, as the regional network debuted its new sports gambling radio show, The Daily Line, last Wednesday.
NBC Sports Washington broadcasts more than 500 live sporting events per year. Offering sports betting themed programming is a logical step to take as more states continue to pass sports betting legislation in 2019. NBC Sports Washington’s broadcast territory includes parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—states that have already legalized sports betting.
