Ex-ESPN host Doug Kezirian joining gambling media network

Former ESPN anchor Doug Kezirian is going the entrepreneurial route for his next job. Kezirian confirmed to The Post that he is joining Only Players, a multi-platform gambling media network, as the primary host and an equity holder.

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Former ESPN anchor Doug Kezirian is going the entrepreneurial route for his next job.

Kezirian confirmed to The Post that he is joining Only Players, a multi-platform gambling media network, as the primary host and an equity holder.

Kezirian, 45, worked at ESPN from 2012 until this past July, hosting a number of shows, including “SportsCenter,” before ultimately becoming the face of the network’s flagship gambling program, “Daily Wager.”

At Only Players, Kezirian will be hosting a daily 30-minute show that also can be consumed as a podcast and spliced up into what he deems “portable, bite-size” highlight clips.

The show will be shot professionally, in 4k video, and the plan is to soon have a linear TV distribution partner.

He’s also already soft-launched a newsletter.

One thing Kezirian emphasized is that he will be putting rigor into his picks — and have skin in the game, betting his own money on the picks he recommends.

Doug Kezirian is joining Only Players, a multi-platform gambling media network. Courtesy of Doug Kezirian
Doug Kezirian had a long run at ESPN Courtesy of Doug Kezirian

“I think there’s been a shift in the industry. Take a step away. This was against federal law except in Nevada until five years ago. So a lot of executives who are decision-makers at these networks are not really gamblers at the core — which is totally understandable because they’re high-level, functioning adults and this stuff was federally banned,” Kezirian told The Post.

“Now, we have all this advertising revenue entering the space, so how do we provide content? Somewhere along the way, they just sort of gave in to a bunch of content creators who aren’t necessarily proficient in the space — because there aren’t a lot of them.

“So what do they do to fill airtime? Do you find the few people that there are and pay them? That’s what they do with NBA and NFL analysis — they find former stars and champions. But they’re not doing that in the betting vertical — they don’t want to pay them what it would take them to give up professionally betting, so they are just getting people who are professional on-air, and know something about the space, but I think the line has gotten really blurred.”

Doug Kezirian (center) is joining Only Players. dougespn/Instagram
Doug Kezirian became the face of ESPN’s “Daily Wager.” dougespn/Instagram

Kezirian, who once won nearly $300,000 on an NFL Draft prop and nearly $60,000 in a Vegas College Pick’em football contest, disagreed with the idea of betting content being “fun and casual” with money at stake and analogized it to what he would want out of a golf instructor.

“I wouldn’t want to take golf lessons from a club pro who’s only hit off the mat at a driving range — I want to take lessons from a guy who’s played!” he said.

Kezirian is partnering with serial entrepreneur Paul Bremer in the endeavor.

Doug Kezirian, Clinton Yates and Jeremy Schaap prepare for a “Friday Four” episode of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” Tribune News Service via Getty I

In the mid-1990s, Bremer was the first sales rep for WSJ.com before the newspaper’s site even launched.

GoodSport, a site that has been successful in positive sports storytelling, is among the companies he’s founded.

Bremer said Only Players is striving to be the “white hat” in the industry.

“If people are going to take out their wallets and spend their money, don’t be reckless with the advice,” Bremer said. “He’s not going to be on the hook for a pick that he was just forced to pick because a media company told him to.

“He makes the picks that he feels passionate about.”

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