Over a year ago, ESPN announced plans to open a Las Vegas studio at The LINQ for sports gambling related content, including both Daily Wager and a second digital show. You probably completely forgot about those plans this year during the pandemic, but on Monday, ESPN announced that their Vegas studio was open for business, and segments filmed at the studio would be debuting on air today.
In addition, Daily Wager will return to ESPN2’s airwaves on September 8th (two days before the start of the NFL season), hosted by Doug Kezirian and filmed at the Vegas studio.
Details on the digital show remain sparse, but ESPN revealed it would be for social channels, rather than ESPN+.
This fall, ESPN will also expand its sports betting-themed content into multiple platforms with the launch of a new digital show. New episodes will be available three days a week on the ESPN app, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as part of a new sports betting channel that will include content originating from Caesars.
Also of note for the Vegas studio once the pandemic begins to fade: ESPN has long-term deals with both Top Rank and the UFC, and both companies are based and hold events in the city. That could allow for an easier flow of content surrounding big events with so many notable people in town for the shows. Additionally, with both the Raiders and Golden Knights in town, that could lead to some more NFL and NHL content with people connected to both franchises (and other franchises in town to play those teams) in close proximity.
[ESPN, Photo via ESPN/Caesars]
