Inside the ESPN's NBA Daily Wager Special: How ESPN Produced Its First Sports-Betting-Driven Broadcast

21/04/2021

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

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/04/21/inside-the-espns-nba-daily-wage...
	See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026