Watch any game on ESPN or on its sister network ABC, and you will see the ESPN Bet advertisements and promotions during just about every commercial break.
They have become ubiquitous parts of the network’s sports programming.
These are the advertisements hawking ESPN’s betting app, featuring Stephen A. Smith, Mike Greenberg, and other assorted talking heads from the network’s lineup.
A strong push like this from the Disney marketing department is not surprising. The media giant regularly uses all its tentacles to promote its various properties. The synergy its sports personalities offer is a major reason why ESPN hooked up with PENN Entertainment following the gaming company’s divorce from Barstool.
Those recognizable figures are now prominently featured on ESPN Bet’s promo page endorsing certain wagers. Most often these include pre-packaged parlays and odds boosts connected to upcoming games airing on the network.
ESPN Bet targeting recreational bettors
Promo wagers with names such as Stephen’s A-List (Smith), Seeing Green (Greenberg), and Mad Dog Specials (Chris Russo) will likely go unnoticed by seasoned handicappers. This group is well aware that books don’t like giving money away, meaning there are low limits and often negative-EV incorporated into promo bets.
However, in the ever-competitive legalised market, that group isn’t the intended audience for these promos. Instead, they are geared toward the recreational bettors. They are the ones most likely to be swayed by a familiar face and tempted even more with an odds boost to make a small wager with the hopes of it turning into something much larger.
Sweetening the deal is the book arranging all these parlay legs together for them. That saves a bettor the time and effort needed to do their own handicapping.
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