ESPN Airs Sports Wagering Show From Las Vegas In Time for NFL Opener

Posted on: September 8, 2020, 12:55h. 

Last updated on: September 8, 2020, 02:00h.

Larry Henry Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

An ESPN sports betting show begins airing Tuesday, Sept. 8, from the network’s new studio inside a Las Vegas casino.

ESPN's Daily Wager
ESPN’s Doug Kezirian hosts the Daily Wager sports betting show from inside The LINQ Hotel in Las Vegas. The show begins airing from the new Southern Nevada studio on Sept. 8. (Image: Barrett Sports Media)

The one-hour Daily Wager show broadcasts from a giant’s 6,000-square-foot studio inside The LINQ Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. During football season, the show will air on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. ET from Tuesday through Friday, and on Sundays at 9 a.m. ET.

This comes only days before the National Football League kicks off its regular season Thursday night, Sept. 10. The NFL generally is the most widely bet sport in the country.

ESPN built the studio at The LINQ partially to capitalize on Las Vegas’ status as a sports hot-spot. That’s not just with its many sportsbooks, but also because teams from major professional leagues now are based in Southern Nevada.

Daily Wager is hosted by Doug Kezirian, who worked for seven years as sports director and anchor for KTNV-TV Channel 13 in Las Vegas.

Live sports betting is legal in 18 states and has been legalized, but is not yet operational, in four more. Sports-betting legislation is pending in seven states.

Halt in the Action

ESPN’s Las Vegas studio opened Aug. 24 with segments produced for SportsCenter and digital platforms. But this is the first airing of Daily Wager from the LINQ studio.

Daily Wager began broadcasting in 2019 from the network’s main studios in Connecticut. However, the show was put on hold this year in March when coronavirus infection rates started to soar nationwide. Sporting events also were halted at that time.

In late August, college football got underway, though some conferences are sitting out the season. Others, such as the Southeastern Conference, are playing an abbreviated schedule only against teams in their conference.

Football teams also are limiting the number of fans who can attend games. During Thursday’s NFL contest in Kansas City, the Chiefs are allowing 16,700 fans into 76,000-seat Arrowhead Stadium for the game.

Sports Betting Touch Down

The public’s interest in sports wagering is showing up in recent developments taking place in Las Vegas.

Circa Sports has announced it is entering into a partnership with Tuscany Suites and Casino to rebrand its sportsbook. This development gives Circa Sports a presence outside of downtown Las Vegas, where the $1 billion resort is nearing completion. 

The Circa will also be the site of a second Vegas Stats and Information (VSiN) studio. The sports handicapping and analysis network, launched in 2017 by veteran broadcaster Brent Musburger, has a studio at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip inside the South Point Casino.

VSiN also is broadening its reach, with wagering analysis programs being broadcast from casinos outside Nevada.

Meanwhile, the Treasure Island hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip has opened a new and larger sportsbook, the Golden Circle Sportsbook and Bar. It seats 750 people, about 600 more than the previous sportsbook at the resort, according to a company release.