There was a time when ESPN — owned by the child-friendly Walt Disney (DIS) brand — was resistant to sports gambling.
Even as much of the United States opened up to gambling, ESPN was only dipping its toes into the waters— creating low-profile television programs here and there and getting into partnerships with the likes of Caesar Sportsbook and DraftKings.
But in the back half of 2023, ESPN finally caved. The network made a $2 billion deal with PENN Entertainment (PENN) to create ESPN Bet, the company-branded sportsbook, off of what used to be Barstool Sportsbook.
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Since then, ESPN has splattered its programming with references to ESPN Bet and used its top personalities in commercials. That's no shocker considering PENN and ESPN's strategy is to leverage ESPN's reach and brand name to drive consumers away from more established players like DraftKings and FanDuel.
PENN execs said last year that they wanted 20% of the sports betting market share by 2027 — a number that was only around 2-3% when the two sides came to an agreement.
But the push of the gambling business has undoubtedly created some uneasiness with the general public. While the American Gaming Association said that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the 2018 Supreme Court decision that allowed for sports betting to become more widespread, there are still many who are critical of the way that its being policed during these early stages.
ESPN, considering its platform, is now in the spotlight, and is being criticized after one of its top hosts made some peculiar statements on Sunday ahead of the slew of March Madness games.
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ESPN sports betting analyst Erin Dolan said that she believed that Northwestern would score less than 60.5 points during its Round of 32 game against top-seeded UConn. Host Rece Davis responded by saying he thought she sold it well that it felt like a sure bet.
"Some would call this wagering, gambling, I think the way you sold this, I think what it is, is a risk-free investment," Davis said.
"You know what? Some would call this wagering, gambling; the way you've sold this, I think what it is, is a risk-free investment," said ESPN's Rece Davis after an ESPN Bet segment with Erin Dolan. pic.twitter.com/257daMIBON
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 24, 2024
This wasn't received too kindly by some considering that selling gambling as a sure deal could lead to gambling problems or addiction, which is a very real issue in this country.
Sports business analyst Joe Pompliano responded to the video by highlighting that this is made even more risky because of the platform and branding behind it.
"Call me old school, but I preferred it when the world's largest sports media company wasn't referring to sports gambling as a "risk-free investment," Pompliano wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Call me old school, but I preferred it when the world's largest sports media company wasn't referring to sports gambling as a "risk-free investment." https://t.co/L6qq5UZliR
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) March 24, 2024
Davis would take to X later on in the day to clarify his statements, saying that his statements were simply joking.
"I joked the advice was more like "risk free investing," Davis wrote. "As we all know, such a thing does not exist. Obviously, there are risks. Though I'm not a gambler, I strongly encourage those who do partake, do so with prudence, care, caution, fiscal and personal responsibility and never over-extend."
He added that he thinks most believe his comment was "tongue-in-cheek."
For what its worth, Dolan's call ended up being correct, though only by a hair as Northwestern finished with 58 points in a blowout loss to UConn.
But the publicity of this shows that the standard media practices surrounding sports betting still have a lot of catching up to do to the accessibility of placing bets.
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