ESPN betting analyst defends not advertising bets on ESPN Bet

Yesterday’s social media dialogue surrounding ESPN betting analyst Erin Kate Dolan was certainly not controversial, but it says a lot more about the challenges facing ESPN Bet than the specific tips she gave.

In a video posted to her X page (formerly Twitter), Dolan revealed four prop bet picks that were her favorites for the Ravens’ opening game against the Chiefs on Thursday night.

NFL picks are back, baby!!! pic.twitter.com/iH8uUx3pl8

– Erin Kate Dolan (@erinkatedolan) 4 September 2024

Normally, it wouldn’t be worth it for a betting expert to make his picks on an NFL game. But as several sports bettors noted, most of Dolan’s bets were not available on her own network’s platform – ESPN Bet.

I don’t want to put the tips down, but at first glance it seems like none of these markets are available at ESPNBet.

Food for thought @DustinGouker https://t.co/linFXEK8ZU

– Alex Kane (@a_kane47) 5 September 2024

ESPN betting analyst gives four tips, three of which ESPN Bet has no markets for. You can’t make this stuff up. https://t.co/iecmrMstYa

— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) 5 September 2024

Dolan then defended her video, noting that they were her personal best picks and not necessarily affiliated with the ESPN Bet platform. She also said that people were “crying too much” given the social media engagement the video generated. That probably speaks to the number of critics who showed up in replies and mentions, looking for more insight and background on why she was touting her picks. And it should be noted that there certainly seemed to be a significant number of comments that were heavily sexist and contained little in the way of genuine criticism.

To whom it may concern…

This is MY social media. I have made picks that I, Erin Dolan, liked. Some were on ESPN Bet and some were on other bookies.

I have no influence on which markets rise, which fall, and which lines shift.

Enjoy the game! Let’s have fun. https://t.co/idKDdZ9HDB

– Erin Kate Dolan (@erinkatedolan) 5 September 2024

The craziest thing is that you can bet whatever your heart desires. 😂 You all really cry too much here.

– Erin Kate Dolan (@erinkatedolan) 5 September 2024

Dolan can choose whatever she wants for any reason she wants, but it also highlights how difficult ESPN Bet’s launch continues to be in terms of marketing the product and integrating it (or lack thereof) with existing ESPN products and personalities.

If there’s one thing ESPN does well, it’s corporate synergy. We’ve seen time and time again over the years that when the Bristol machine wants to support something, it has the ability to go all out. That’s why it’s so puzzling why the network has seemingly been unable to get its personalities to promote ESPN Bet in any meaningful way, beyond a few commercials here and there.

This ongoing embarrassment includes ESPN talent promoting ESPN Bet during their work hours at ESPN, but promoting other sportsbooks or DFS operators in their free time. pic.twitter.com/DVeg0fPdlj

— Ben Koo (@bkoo) 6 September 2024

ESPN Bet is still fighting tooth and nail to break the DraftKings and FanDuel duopoly in the sports betting space and has so far failed to close the gap. Just consider its relationship with ESPN’s two biggest stars – Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith.

Smith has done some advertising for ESPN Bet, but he also has a deal with PrizePicks for his podcast and regularly tweets social media videos promoting the podcast to his millions of followers. McAfee has openly alluded to some of ESPN Bet’s shortcomings on his syndicated ESPN show.

I’m excited to see it tonight!!!

Had to make some @PrizePicks Tips pic.twitter.com/qLHQQi2JEh

– Stephen A. Smith (@stephenasmith) 29 August 2024

That an ESPN betting analyst doesn’t bother to call out odds that appear on ESPN Bet may not be significant in isolation, but it only reinforces the impression that the $150 million-a-year partnership between Penn and ESPN is not on the path they hoped for when the deal was signed.