It's a dramatic change of scenery, going from a small cog in the company that calls itself “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” to an equity holder and the public face of a startup site. But that's the adjustment Doug Kezirian is now making, launching Only Players after an 11-year run at ESPN.
The Las Vegas-based Kezirian, 45, achieved high visibility at ESPN hosting SportsCenter and, starting in 2019, the sports betting-focused Daily Wager. Now he's taking all those on-air reps and lessons learned to the new web-only (for now) show Wager Watch while serving as Only Players' chief content officer and senior betting analyst.
So what is the aim at Only Players? How are Kezirian and company looking to set themselves apart?
“There’s a way to do content where you can make people smarter,” Kezirian told Sports Handle. “The large companies that are trying to fill hours and bottomless web content do not have enough true experts. It’s just a fact – the space is too new, and it’s rare to have people that have on-air skills and also betting knowledge, especially when the highest level of professional bettors are not part of the talent pool.