A California investigative journalist, director, and producer stated not too long ago that she left the corporate in 2023 after greater than twenty years due to the community’s embrace of sports activities betting.
Nicole Noren left the company in 2023 after it launched ESPN Bet with Penn Entertainment. ESPN featured her on Outside the Lines and different community programming.
She advised the Columbia Journalism Review that her household handled drawback playing, together with the demise of her brother.
“My grandfather, my father, and one of my brothers were pretty much destroyed by sports gambling addiction,” Noren stated. “I grew up in Ventura, California, and a number of instances, we immediately needed to transfer due to excessive monetary ups and downs. I imply, I grew up in a sportsbook.
“My brother died 13 years ago on the sidewalk in downtown Las Vegas. It’s a stark reality, but it illustrates the tragic arc of being brought there as kids so our dad could gamble at sportsbooks, to then surviving on the streets there as a homeless person and dying at thirty-six.”
Expanded Focus On Sports Betting
Even within the years earlier than the ESPN Bet platform launched, Noren says her story concepts surrounding the pitfalls of playing have been rejected. At the identical time, the community started integrating playing content material into ESPN’s sports activities protection.
Some of that included itemizing level spreads for upcoming matchups, opening a studio on the Las Vegas Strip, and unveiling ESPN Bet-branded retail sportsbooks. The cope with Penn ultimately led to Noren leaving the corporate after 24 years.
“I was out,” she stated. “I’m not going to work for a gambling company and have blood on my hands.”
ESPN Bet didn’t final lengthy. Penn shuttered the operation in 2025 after struggling to achieve market share. The community later signed a cope with DraftKings. All of this adopted Penn buying Barstool Sports to create a sports activities betting platform.
The firm then resold the model again to founder Dave Portnoy earlier than agreeing to the cope with ESPN. Barstool additionally later introduced a cope with DraftKings.
Noren stated she tried to boost issues about how the enterprise pursuits of the corporate have been overshadowing the community’s reporting. However, she stated the response amongst administration was “almost like putting their heads in the sand.”
Company Rejects Allegations
ESPN denied the former employee’s allegations and stated enterprise selections don’t have an effect on the information facet of the corporate.
“ESPN remains committed to journalism that serves sports fans, holds powerful interests accountable and earns our audience’s trust,” the corporate advised the New York Post. “Our editorial decisions are guided by news judgment and journalistic integrity, and we demonstrate this every day through the award-winning content we produce across our platforms.”
The information comes because the sports activities betting and gaming business has been underneath the microscope not too long ago in mild of a number of main betting scandals and issues about drawback playing.
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama not too long ago stated that he would by no means endorse gambling-related corporations. The backlash towards playing growth has additionally included New Yorkers protesting a proposed on line casino exterior Citi Field, house of the Mets and future website of a New York City on line casino.
