ESPN Producer Whose Gambling-Addicted Brother Died On Streets Says She Quit Over Its Embrace of Sports Betting

A longtime ESPN producer who lost her brother to gambling addiction resigned from the network after 24 years due to its pivot into sports betting. Nicole Noren—winner of multiple Emmy, Murrow, and Peabody awards—told the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) this week that ESPN’s business priorities have overtaken its journalistic responsibilities.

The breaking point, Noren said, was the sports network’s decision to license its name to the ESPN Bet app in 2023. “I was out,” Noren told CJR. “I’m not going to work for a gambling company and have blood on my hands.”

Noren’s objections were personal. She said gambling addiction devastated her grandfather, father, and brother, describing a childhood spent in sportsbooks rather than typical family spaces.

“I grew up in a sportsbook… dragged to Las Vegas in the ’80s and hanging out in the Hilton and Caesars sportsbooks,” she said. Her brother ultimately died homeless on a downtown Las Vegas sidewalk at age 36.

“Addiction dictated every part of our life,” she said.

Decades of Distance

For years, ESPN kept sports gambling at arm’s length, even after the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban in 2018. But Noren said the network’s internal culture shifted as leadership changed and betting partnerships became more lucrative.

She said she noticed that stories examining gambling addiction or scrutinizing betting companies were no longer welcome. “None of those stories was greenlit,” she said, adding that one project meant to hold gambling operators accountable was “neutered” before airing.

The launch of ESPN Bet—which later collapsed and was replaced by a DraftKings partnership—convinced Noren that the network had crossed a line. She said ESPN’s editorial independence eroded as business interests grew, describing executives as “putting their heads in the sand” about addiction risks.

 “They care more about their 401(k) than they care about journalism,” she said.

When a colleague sent her an ESPN interactive explainer on sports gambling that used bright, cartoonish animations, she said “it literally made me sick to my stomach.”

“We’re helping kids and young people figure out how to do something that could be incredibly detrimental to their health,” she said.

ESPN Fires Back

ESPN disputed Noren’s characterization, telling sports media commentary site Awful Announcing that it “remains committed to journalism that serves sports fans, holds powerful interests accountable and earns our audience’s trust.”

Gambling reporter David Payne Purdum also defended the network, saying he has covered addiction and betting scandals “with support and encouragement” from editors.