ESPN embraces gambling in unprecedented manner
Gambling and sports have always gone hand in hand. Gambling and sports media? Not so much. At least, that is until recently.
Major news networks such as ESPN and Fox Sports have been increasingly embracing gambling as part of sports coverage whether it is through advertising, game picks or several other pathways.
Perhaps the most glaring is Scott Van Pelt’s new SportsCenter show which began airing last week. The format of the show, specifically designed for Van Pelt, creates a more mutli-dynamic feel than its traditional predecessor. One of the new focuses Van Pelt’s version of the show is bringing is gambling.
Van Pelt said in a interview with USA Today that he believes this will make his show more relatable and fun:
We’re going to address this like adults. Like, ‘if you had the Clippers tonight -8, boy did you just suffer a horrific loss and we’ll show you how, momentarily,’….we’ll address [gambling] more directly that it’s ever been addressed before as opposed to “boy that basket was sure important to some people, wink, wink” — well, let’s just say what it is.
Van Pelt went on to say that gambling has become such a pinnacle part to sports and why people care about them that it is essentially useless for the media giants to pretend it doesn’t exist. And it looks like the giants are listening to the bald man.
College GameDay long ago solidified itself as a Saturday football tradition for millions of college football fans. Last Saturday, it did something that was completely unprecedented. They picked games, not who would win, but against the spread.
The most obvious example of this was during their “game picks” of Middle Tennessee State at Alabama with a line of -35. Desmond Howard was the only one to pick Middle Tennessee State to beat the spread, marking likely the first time MTS has ever been picked to win anything on College GameDay. (For the record, Middle Tennessee lost by 27)
Perhaps the most striking one is the one that every regular viewer of ESPN recognizes, advertising. ESPN commercial space has been all-out assaulted by fantasy-for-money websites such as FanDuel and DraftKings. While this is strictly speaking not gambling, many consider it simply unofficial.
The reason many people, including New Jersey congressman Frank Pallone Jr., have migrated towards these two sites in particular is because of the massive advertising tactic both have employed on ESPN.
Both sites have invested a combined $27 million to essentially rule ESPN radio and television commercials, garnering nearly 8,000 spots on the latter during the opening week for the NFL.
Operating under a legal loophole making winning money from a fantasy sports game exempt from gambling laws, these sites basically allow the player to lose or win money based off a player’s performance. This is almost identical to losing or winning money based off a game’s outcome.
Regardless, all of these examples show that ESPN is quickly embracing one of the biggest aspects of professional and collegiate sports: gambling. The real question is no longer is gambling ethical, frankly no one cares. It’s popular and isn’t going away and ESPN is realizing that.
The real question is what ramifications this embracement of gambling will have not on other sports media but on the sports themselves. When television wanted more offense, the NFL quickly adjusted and gave networks more offense leading to its immense popularity it currently enjoys. Baseball has just begun to catch up with such demands by implementing pitch clock, reviews, etc.
If ESPN begins to embrace gambling, major sports leagues will seek to do the same to continue to appease the fans and networks, what possibilities will this open?
Somewhere, Pete Rose is sitting and waiting for his phone call.
