Inside the ESPN's NBA Daily Wager Special: How ESPN Produced Its First Sports-Betting-Driven Broadcast The broadcast integrated betting data and commentary with a clean feed of the game By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 3:53 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Last week's Daily Wager Special broadcast of the Brooklyn Nets-Philadelphia 76ers matchup marked ESPN's largest sports-betting-focused game production to date. The April 14 alternative broadcast, which was carried on ESPN+ and ESPN2 alongside the traditional broadcast on ESPN, was a glimpse into what viewers can expect from ESPN as it looks to capitalize of the rapid growth of legalized sports betting in the U.S.
We're excited to do as much live [in-game content] as possible, says ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer, Sports Betting and Fantasy Sports, Scott Clark, who oversaw last week's production. It's obviously something that's just getting started in the market because of legalization, and we want to be ready for what's coming.
The broadcast leveraged a clean feed from the primary ESPN broadcast of the game and integrated sports-betting-focused graphics and commentary from ESPN's sports-betting studio show Daily Wager. The telecast featured a revamped scorebug/bottom-line graphic displaying betting data, and it consistently integrated Daily Wager analysts Doug Kezirian, Joe Fortenbaugh, and Tyler Fulghum from ESPN's Las Vegas studios at The LINQ.
The broadcast featured discussion about game action in relation to pregame odds (tracking closing lines for spread, total, and props), tracking live odds (spread, total), futures (NBA MVP, conference odds, NBA Finals odds), and updates from other games being played, as well as sports-betting focused pregame show and halftime show.
The Philosophy: Catering to Bettors and Non-Bettors Alike Although the Daily Wager Special marked ESPN's first alternative presentation fully driven by sports-betting content, it wasn't the first to have a betting aspect to it. In January for its MegaCast presentation of the AFC Wild Card Game, the Between the Lines alternative feed on ESPN+ featured the teams from both NFL Live and Daily Wager, providing a mix of old-school analysis, new-age analytics, and sports-betting information.
Besides in-game discussions of live odds, the Daily Wager Special presentation addressed futures like NBA MVP, conference odds, and NBA Finals odds.
With the Between the Lines experience under their belt, Clark and the Daily Wager team were looking to create for its first NBA game a broadcast that would serve not only the hardcore bettor but the casual NBA fan as well.
Since we were on linear TV, we knew we would have a varied audience in terms of their avidity for gambling, says Clark. You could have anywhere from someone who is a very avid passionate sports bettor to someone who was just flipping through channels and ended up on ESPN2. We needed to hit both those notes. We decided not to hold back in terms of sophistication and betting [analysis], but we also made sure to explain some of basic betting terms and concepts throughout [the broadcast].
The Talent: Daily Wager Analysts Call Action From Vegas That duality came into play as the production team and on-air talent began to consider how to integrate traditional play-by-play into a betting-centric broadcast.
We didn't want a strictly traditional play-by-play call like you would normally see on ESPN, says Clark. We wanted it to be more conversational, but, of course, we had to have some level of play-by-play and acknowledge what's happening on the court. So we ended up having [our announcers] conversing about the betting aspects, and then our host Doug Kezirian would cut in and just simply say, Layup by Simmons, Sixers up five'.
Kezirian, Fortenbaugh, Fulghum, and ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins also regularly appeared on-screen as the game action was taking place to give a face to the voice, says Clark.
The Production Team: At Home in Bristol In addition to featuring Daily Wager's on-air talent in the broadcast, last week's NBA presentation was also handled by the studio show's production team.
Daily Wager's home is a 6,000-sq.-ft. 4K/1080p production facility on the Vegas Strip that includes three studios and features 12 cameras, including two exterior robotic cameras. The studio is designed around REMI and does not have an accompanying control room onsite. Instead, camera/audio feeds are sent to a control room at ESPN's HQ in Bristol, CT, where the Daily Wager production team is on hand to produce the show.
Daily Wager-style slab graphics displayed periodically on the right side of ESPN's betting-focused presentation, showing key prop bets and odds during the game.
Clark and Daily Wager director Ed Curran were in constant communication with Rodney Vaughn, producer for ESPN's primary NBA broadcast, to ensure that they were aligned on commercial breaks and key moments during the game. In addition, ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Ed Placey, one of the key leaders of the network's MegaCast productions for the College Football Playoff, worked closely with the Daily Wager team to develop the graphics and operations workflow.
Everyone on the production side is used to studio productions, so this is very new to us, says Clark. We were able to do a rehearsal game, but we really had to feel it out as the game went on. A lot of this stuff was very foreign to us, so we had to figure out how to navigate that through the game. But I think we felt really comfortable by the time the second half started.
The Graphics: Rethinking the Scorebug for Betting-Centric Data The Between the Lines MegaCast feed at the AFC Wild Card Game featured an ultra-aggressive graphi
North America Stories
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...
23/07/2026
Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...
23/07/2026
At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...
23/07/2026
Illusionfx is finally coming!
Alex Perea July 23, 2026
0 Comments
The new website is now live to mark the occasion.
Since the last update, feedback h...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
LOS ANGELES / LONDON - July 21, 2026 - Sohonet, the global leader in collaborati...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
Inside the ESPN's NBA Daily Wager Special: How ESPN Produced Its First Sports-Betting-Driven Broadcast The broadcast integrated betting data and commentary with a clean feed of the game By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
