Doug Kezirian ’95 on the Evolution of Sports Betting – TSC052



Doug Kezirian ’95 is the host of ESPN’s first-ever daily betting show, The Daily Wager. In this episode, Doug takes us through the legal and societal evolution of sports betting, and how a subject many regarded as “unseemly” a decade ago now finds a comfortable home on ESPN. Doug also describes his own evolution, growing up in LA as the youngest of five brothers, attending Harvard-Westlake, Philips Exeter, and Brown University, followed by a start in broadcasting he characterizes as “the minor leagues.” Beginning in small markets in Iowa and Missouri, Doug eventually made his way to Las Vegas, NV, where he became familiarized with a “legal” sports betting framework and community. After finally being “called up” to ESPN in 2012 (and as national sports gambling restrictions began to relax), Doug became the ideal person to host the network’s first ever daily program devoted to sports betting. Doug references Kathy Neumeyer and Bob Archer of Harvard-Westlake, as well as journalist Eric Sondheimer, as profound life influences.