Kezirian hosts the show, which features recurring guests like Scott Van Pelt and Steve CoughlinESPN IMAGES
ESPN premiered its first daily gambling show yesterday, "Daily Wager," and the format is "pretty simple -- Doug Kezirian talks to people about games, why the lines are where they are, and what they're feeling about the games," according to Joe Lucia of AWFUL ANNOUNCING. Adam Schefter had a "brief segment" in last night's show, and Barry Melrose showed up and "made some NHL winner and total picks while providing some analysis." Fantasy basketball writer Andre Snellings had an entire segment "dedicated to the night’s NBA prop bets and daily fantasy picks." It really seems like the "only people not making picks on the show are the reporters, which actually makes all the sense in the world." The baseball futures segment featuring Scott Van Pelt and Steve Coughlin with Kezirian was the "highlight of the show." Lucia wrote he felt there was "too much content in the one-hour premiere," but he "liked how each of the experts brought in on the show seemed to stick to their own lane" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 3/11).
A NEW ERA: ESPN’s David Purdum on the debut episode gave a brief synopsis of the current state of sports gambling across the U.S.. He noted New York, Arkansas and DC "have laws in place" and they are "putting together regulations." There are about 32 other states that have "introduced legislation," but "none of them have passed it yet." The states with sports betting legalized that have "had the most success so far are the ones that have the mobile betting … option on your phone or online," which is "primarily New Jersey." Of the $1B in bets the state took in the first six months, 80% of those bets "were placed online or from a mobile phone." (“Daily Wager,” ESPNews, 3/11). In Spokane, Vince Grippi notes with the West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament taking place in Las Vegas, as usual, ESPN "decided to use a slot machine graphic" to explain the conference awards. There was a time gambling and college sports were kept "at arm's length." Grippi: "Not anymore" (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 3/12).
