ESPN’S GAMBLING IDIOCY: CONGRESS SHOULD WATCH, VAN PELT SHOULD BE FIRED
The network’s sportsbook plunge already brings ugly news, with a disturbing $114.9 million in first-quarter net losses, which means Disney should end a bad marketing dance card with a betting anchor
When a tailor asks a warped question to a wagering Scott Van Pelt — “How about a pocket square?” — the people who run ESPN might re-examine their moral consciences. Are they aware of the advertising prohibition act? Do they have a clue about subjecting problem gamblers to severe life issues? Eventually, commercials that encourage fans to bet on sports will be thwarted by Congressional action, as Big Tobacco understood in its final television spot on Jan. 1, 1971.
“You’ve come a long way, baby,” said Virginia Slims, darkly, on “The Tonight Show.”
I would try: “Let’s fire Van Pelt and get back to real coverage.” Because not only do his gambling ads reduce him to a doofus-sniffing blowhard — in a boom time for sports and big media — but they’ve turned his network into a gauche destination for America’s problem bettors. That wicked number is rising, reaching 15 million. As ESPN Bet keeps trotting him out to promote the product, the idea is to lure even more of those who’ve poured almost $350 billion into a total handle the past six years. “It’s the playoffs,” Van Pelt keeps telling a fan as they try out new suits, which fits the sportsbook’s “What a Play” mode.
And when he tells the tailor to do his pocket square, he looks into a mirror with a sinister grin that doesn’t care if more troubled junkies call hotlines from the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He thinks it’s cooler than a bald head to lay money and suffer bad beats, which he overpublicizes during a nightly program that is supposed to highlight the day’s sports stories. This way, ESPN makes new loads of money in an operation run by Penn Entertainment, while trying to fight a devastating cable-cutting era as it introduces all programming into one app in 2025. We’ve not only seen Van Pelt but Mike Greenberg and Elle Duncan, who also are supposed to be bringing us news but also bring tips.
Except, where are the new loads of money?
The year’s first quarter only produced net losses, of $114.9 million, which means a 10-year licensing deal of $1.5 billion already looks disturbing for Bob Iger and Jimmy Pitaro. When Penn Entertainment’s stock price dropped by 15 percent Thursday, CEO Jay Snowden said, “Admittedly, we have not been as tight and accurate with our financial forecasts in the early days of ESPN Bet, which is not representative of our long-term track record or internal expectations at Penn. ... Our focus heading into this football season will be on enhancing our product offerings, including a refreshed home screen and expanded parlay offerings.”
How about calling it a major loss at the top of Disney — and removing Van Pelt from our sight? Consider the result another indication that most people still watch sports for the competitive intrigue — and not for parlays and props. Sports betting is legal in 38 states and the District of Columbia and, at some point, the craze will reach an edge of finality. I live in a place, California, where a gambling-crazed interpreter stole $16 million from Shohei Ohtani, who lied when he had every reason to know his close companion had bet 19,000 times and lost $40.67 million in 30 months. Sports will have crippling scandals this year and beyond. Legal gambling makes no sense, which the Supreme Court didn’t realize, unless we like dirty states making dirtier revenues.
Even Pat McAfee, who continues to take shots at a company that rents him, was left to comment. “ESPN Bet’s got a lot of room to grow,” he said on his program. “Hey, good luck. Let’s go ESPN Bet. You get knocked down, you come back. Legit. Good luck. Now, granted, ESPN Bet, I don’t think ESPN people are running the book. With that said, let’s go. You’ve got ESPN on it.”
Too late. Same goes for Pitaro, the ESPN chairman, who allowed his public-relations department to report Milwaukee’s Patrick Beverley has not been banned from network programming. He should have been, after throwing a ball and hitting a female fan and ejecting ESPN’s Malinda Adams from a media session because she doesn’t listen to his podcast. “There was an erroneous report that suggested Patrick Beverley was banned from appearing on ESPN. He isn't banned and never was,” the statement came Saturday. So they’re protecting Beverley after he harassed their reporter. Why, because Stephen A. Smith wants him on his show?
At some point, the proliferation of ESPN Bet ads will be addressed by Congress. Over the weekend, I tried to watch the NBA without seeing the same damned script: “My man, it’s the playoffs.” Seems I would receive $100 in bonus bets with any sportsbook wager.
I have a pocket square. I don’t use it. I like sports. Next time he emerges, I will send another Van Pelt, Lucy, who will mock and intimidate him until he goes to Bally Sports, which was pulled off the air.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.