Prior to May 2018, the approach across much of sports media was to ignore the existence of sports betting – even if the person on the mic knew everything there was to know about the subject.
After May 2018, the approach across much of sports media swung to finding ways to force sports betting into the conversation – even if the person on the mic knew absolutely nothing about the subject.
The past five years have seen gradual tweaks and updates to the unwritten rules of talking about sports betting on the air. But potentially the most massive shift since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA awaits in November – probably before the third NFL weekend of the month – when the ESPN BET sportsbook app launches.
The four letters synonymous with sports broadcasting for the past four decades or so are, in partnership with PENN Entertainment, getting attached to a sportsbook. ESPN itself is not taking bets, exactly. But ESPN BET is (with PENN as the operator). And that's close enough to represent a paradigm shift.