Is Caesars Sportsbook Courting ESPN’s Adam Schefter for Company Role?

Dave Schwab Sports Betting Expert

2 minute read

The latest rumor in the legal US sports betting industry involves a high profile sportsbook operator and a high profile sports personality.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Caesars Sportsbook may have a strong interest in hiring ESPN personality Adam Schefter. With his current contract expiring next year, it was already rumored that Schefter had an interest in shifting his career to the sports betting industry.

Adding fuel to the fire is a recent controversy involving Schefter and Bruce Allen. The latter is an executive with the NFL’s Washington Football Team. Schefter reportedly sent Allen an unpublished article to see if he wanted anything “added, changed, tweaked” before it went live.

Schefter even referred to Allen as “Mr. Editor” in his correspondence. The ESPN personality has since acknowledged that he should not have done what he did. However, there appears to be some bad blood between Schefter and his current employers at ESPN over the handling of the matter.

Adding to the current intrigue with Caesars is ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Another hot topic of discussion involves Wojnarowski and Schefter as a package deal for a sports betting company.

Caesars Sportsbook moved to the top of the list because of the aggressive push its parent company, Caesars Entertainment, is making into legal sports betting.

After acquiring UK sports betting giant William Hill earlier this year, the company is pouring millions into its effort to rebrand William Hill as Caesars Sportsbook.

As an official gaming partner with the NFL, Caesars has launched a marketing campaign for the Super Bowl LVI Royal Giveaway. A special promo code "VIMAXSPORTRF" is tied to that promotion through Vegas Insider.

Legal US sportsbook operators have been partnering with high profile celebrities and athletes as brand ambassadors. Their primary role has been to spread goodwill for the company they represent.

If Schefter did decide to leave ESPN, it would most likely be for a substantial role with a sportsbook operator such as Caesars. A few months back, it was also rumored that ESPN was negotiating with Caesars over rights for a branded sportsbook.

ESPN is owned by the Walt Disney Corporation to add even more intrigue into the possibility of a partnership involving a branded sportsbook.

The Worldwide Leader in Sports understands the importance of legal sports betting in the US. Yet, with Disney still holding the purse strings, ESPN continues to walk a fine line with its future plans.

Until anything is officially announced, this will remain a hot topic of conversation among sports betting fans. However, if Schefter did join the ranks of a company like Caesars, this could set a future precedent for the sports betting industry as a whole.

Written by Dave Schwab, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Dave Schwab

Dave Schwab has been covering the sports betting industry for the past 12 years as the main focus of his specialty marketing company for online content. This endeavor followed a previous career in the field of sales and marketing in the wholesaling sector.Most of his weekly pieces focus on the rapidly expanding legal US sports betting industry. However, he still does extensive work covering betting angles that can provide a competitive edge to avid players. Dave believes that it is always a challenge to take past results and current form to try and correctly determine a future result. Sports brings out the unpredictability in what should be a fairly predictable outcome based on the stats, facts and recent trends in a particular matchup. More from Dave Schwab