LAS VEGAS and BRISTOL, Conn., Aug. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ESPN and Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR) today announced that its new studio at The LINQ Hotel + Experience in Las Vegas will debut on Monday, Aug. 24 beginning with produced segments for SportsCenter and digital platforms. With the new studio, ESPN will expand its content with Caesars to bring more robust, Vegas-exclusive sports betting and entertainment news to fans around the world. This includes moving ESPN's Daily Wager to the new LINQ studio beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8 and launching a sports betting-themed digital show this fall.
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"In our ongoing mission to serve sports fans, we are committing to a bigger presence both in Las Vegas and with our content across platforms to authentically serve a fast-growing, highly engaged audience," said Mike Morrison, VP of Business Development, ESPN. "We are incredibly fortunate to work alongside a great partner like Caesars Entertainment to achieve this and look forward to collaborating on more opportunities in the future."
"The debut of the all-new ESPN studio at The LINQ Hotel + Experience is a testament both to Las Vegas' position as the sports betting capitol of the world and its transformation into a sports city," said Chris Holdren, Caesars Entertainment, Inc. Co-President of Caesars Sports. "With the marquee location of the studio right at the heart of the Strip, we're excited to see the unique programming that could only be produced here in Las Vegas."
The new, 6,000 square foot facility includes three studios and features 12 cameras, including two exterior robotic cameras. It will operate using ESPN's REMI production workflow, with 24 transmit and receive paths to ESPN control rooms and technical operations around the country. The facility is ESPN's first built to be fully capable to support native 4K, and will launch in 1080p. It will serve as the epicenter of ESPN's sports betting-themed content for linear, digital and social shows. The studio will also play a vital role during major sporting events, including the growing number of franchises and marquee events in Las Vegas.
"Our new studio with Caesars is ideally located in the middle of The Strip and has been designed and built out with state-of-the-art UHD 4K-capable technology, a first for ESPN," said Chris Calcinari, SVP of Remote Production Operations, ESPN & ABC Sports. "We will leverage this technology and our innovative REMI production model to serve this growing audience of sports fans with the quality content for which ESPN is known."
Beginning Sept. 8, ESPN's sports betting news and information program Daily Wager will permanently move to Las Vegas and originate from the LINQ studio as it returns to ESPN2 at 6 p.m. ET on weekdays after a hiatus due to the pandemic. Daily Wager is hosted by Doug Kezirian, who has covered sports betting for more than 15 years, and is joined on the program by sports betting experts as well as ESPN analysts and reporters. The show celebrated its one-year anniversary in March.
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.
"The appetite for sports betting content continues to grow among fans," said Connor Schell, EVP of Content, ESPN. "Our new studio will not only operate as the headquarters for that content, but it will also anchor our year-round presence in Las Vegas – a city that has become a destination for the biggest events in sports. The LINQ studio allows us to meaningfully cover the lineup of major events on the horizon with our league partners like UFC and Top Rank, the NFL regular season with the Las Vegas Raiders – beginning with the Monday Night Football home opener on Sept. 21 – the Las Vegas Bowl, the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, NBA Summer League, and the rescheduled NFL Draft in 2022."
The expanded content commitment with Caesars continues to build upon a stable of ESPN betting-related content that dates back more than a decade. In addition to Daily Wager, ESPN betting-related content has included:
- Behind the Bets with Doug Kezirian podcast from Las Vegas
- Stanford Steve and The Bear podcast (football season)
- Betting news, discussion segments in signature shows (SportsCenter)
- "Bad Beats" on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt
- Bettor Days with Mike Greenberg on ESPN+
- Gambling and gambling industry coverage on ESPN.com for more than 10 years
About Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. is the largest casino-entertainment company in the U.S. and one of the world's most diversified casino-entertainment providers. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, in 1937, Caesars Entertainment has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions. Caesars Entertainment's resorts operate primarily under the Caesars®, Harrah's®, Horseshoe® and Eldorado® brand names. Caesars Entertainment offers diversified amenities and one-of-a-kind destinations, with a focus on building loyalty and value with its guests through a unique combination of impeccable service, operational excellence and technology leadership. Caesars Entertainment is committed to its employees, suppliers, communities and the environment through its PEOPLE PLANET PLAY framework. For more information, please visit www.caesars.com/corporate.
About ESPN
ESPN, the world's leading sports entertainment enterprise, features more than 50 assets – eight U.S. television networks, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and the ESPN App, ESPN International, and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.
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SOURCE Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
Celena Haas-Stacey, Caesars Entertainment, (702) 400-3687 or chaas@caesars.com; Chelsea Ryder, Caesars Entertainment, (702) 308-7947 or cryder@caesars.com; Kristie Adler, ESPN, (646) 547-5637 or kristie.adler@espn.com; Andy Hall, ESPN, (386) 492-2246 or andy.hall@espn.com
