Doug Kezirian has had some huge wins in his career. He won nearly $300K by betting that Tyson Campbell would be the first safety chosen in the 2021 NFL draft. He also won $58K with two of the top-5 finishes in a William Hill college football contest last year.
Those are just a couple of his major scores in sports betting. Kezirian has also anchored SportsCenter and hosted ESPN’s Daily Wager, a dream come true in his sports broadcasting career. Now, Kezirian is hoping for another huge hit with his latest venture. Wager Watch with Doug Kezirian combines his two lifelong passions, sports broadcasting and sports betting.
Kezirian also has a passion for documented success. He insists on having a betting report card filled with A’s and B’s, instead of undocumented picks and incomplete grades. That’s very respectable. All of Kezirian’s picks are tracked on OnlyPlayers.com. Every win and loss is right there for you to see.
Although Kezirian has won a lot, he wants to win more. Although he’s done a lot for the sports betting space, he wants to bring more legitimacy to it. That’s not greed, that’s refusing to rest on your laurels. In the conversation below, Kezirian talks about why he’s choosing the entrepreneurial route. He also chats about his time at ESPN and describes what he calls a boutique approach to sports betting content. Enjoy!
Brian Noe: How would you describe this new project of yours?
Doug Kezirian: I’ve been trying to think of the best parallel, and there really isn’t one. But going on your own and doing it my way is something that really interested me for a variety of reasons. Honestly, a part of me just wanted to walk away and kind of just bet the rest of my life, or at least in the short term.
I’ve been in broadcasting for so long, nearly two decades, and moving cities, working late nights, weekends, holidays, it’s been a fulfilling road but a very long one. The idea of just chillin’ a little bit, and doing a Summer of George sounded appealing. But I care too much about the betting space. I know I can kind of change things for the better, at least I hope I do, and then I also really enjoy it and I think this path has a viable potential.
The idea is to do my own show, my way, and maybe, hopefully, influence people who are foreign to this space, how content should be done. Everyone’s new to it because it was federally banned until five years ago. They’re all just kind of copying each other with a lack of options. It’s not their fault, but given the space is so new, there really aren’t a ton of experts out there that can fill up all the hours for this. They’ve sort of treated it in a casual way, which I think can be dangerous and is suboptimal.
BN: What are some examples of how you plan on structuring your show that’s different than a lot of other shows?
DK: It’s a great question. And that’s the obstacle. Right now, we are creating content, we’re essentially doing a 30-minute show. The day-to-day will exist where it is 100% beneficial to the viewer from a professional mindset, not in a technical way, but just what matters and helps bettors.
For example, I will not force a pick on the World Series if there’s not a play. I’m not going to force any plays and I’m going to talk specifically about stuff that I think people should be betting, and on things where there are edges.
I’ve been fortunate to receive proper training in the media space where I think we can do presentation and segments in an enjoyable but digestible way. I’m confident that everything I say will be 100% credible, so it starts with that. I won’t be making anything up. Then I will do a lot of educational content and a lot of audience engagement. I think people are looking through the lens of what’s on the sports calendar, and letting that shape the content and a rundown, but I want to do what’s beneficial to the sports bettor.
BN: Did you enjoy your time at Daily Wager on ESPN?
DK: Of course, ESPN was incredible. It changed my life. It was a dream job since I was a kid. I was able to work there 11 years. I’m truly lucky. No doubt about that. I will never forget anchoring my first SportsCenter, and other unique and incredibly special moments. The fact that I got to launch the betting show and cut the ribbon on the Vegas studio is something I do not take lightly. I understand the magnitude of that and I’m forever grateful.
Along the way, I was able to glean tons of wisdom from legendary anchors and people behind the scenes that just helped me grow across all fronts. The beauty of working at a place like that is you get to work with so many skilled people and evolve as an on-air talent in strides.
BN: Have you learned more from professional anchors or professional sports bettors?
DK: [Laughs] Well, I was pretty far along in my career when I got to ESPN, so I would say definitely sports bettors. A lot of my growing on-air was doing the reps and putting in the time early in my career in Iowa and Missouri. It’s a tough question, but I’ll say definitely the pro bettors. I’ve been able to glean from them for two decades.
My whole thing on the site is, I’m like the mouthpiece or whatever you want to call it. But it’s not just me sitting there and watching TV and picking games, I have an inner circle that I’ve been fortunate to have through my career stops and everything that have allowed me to build that network and that ecosystem.
One of my partners in this project has basically said, we want to take your cell phone and put that on air. We want to take all that information, find a way to present it, because that’s what I think is the most interesting.
Teaching and educating and the perception of how people are seeing things. It’s not just all me, I’m just the one who’s fortunate to have the reach of the right people and then still want to do the on-air stuff.
That’s why the daily betting card is so important to me, because that simulates day-to-day. All these segments are made for TV. And that’s great, my favorite play, my best bet, whatever. But no one bets the same amount on one play every day. There’s a reason none of these shows or networks are showing any records; they’re just talking and then throwing picks out there with no consequence. And that’s fine, again, if people want that and it’s actually helping them.
I firmly believe there’s no difference between the betting market and stock market. It’s just not treated that way because of a lack of understanding. I’ve had conversations with my betting partner and some others on speakerphones when I’ve had my college buddies visiting who are in the financial world. When I hang up, they just laugh. They’re like you basically have the same conversations I do all day at work. There’s the arbitraging, the derivative trading, it’s all very similar. I believe in the legitimacy of the space and want to change the industry for the better.
BN: Is there anything else you’ve tried to establish in the gambling space?
DK: I tried establishing a hedge fund. I haven’t given up on it but it’s difficult for sure. I received clearance from sportsbooks in town, having loose discussions with them, and then even Nevada Gaming. I had a loose discussion and their representative I spoke to said everything looks fine on his part, but it’s the SEC that was the barrier. I have some lawyers looking into this and trying to get something documented from the SEC. But just like with the stock market, people should be able to invest in a hedge fund and get a percentage of wagers.
It’s pretty simple in theory. Everyone puts in X amount, or whatever percentage you represent of a giant fund, and the fund managers can go make wagers. You get text alerts saying you have 1% of your investment on the Cowboys or whatever it is. I know someone who’s done it, people do it currently off the books. I just wanted to legitimize it because I think that is a way to have documented success. So if I’m on screen, and I have a graphic saying this football season I ran a hedge fund that returned 14% on football betting, NFL and college, that is documented.
Especially if this is a tax ID thing and all that is publicized, and you have investors and you have quarterly reports. There’s no reason that shouldn’t be legal. If you can get more and more documented success, then I think that raises the bar. I just want to continue to raise the bar, and I was hoping a hedge fund would be at least one avenue you can continue doing that. If you can get a bunch of people who run hedge funds who have documented percentages, then I think that helps too, or unit sizes or whatever it may be. Then you can start legitimizing more.
I feel the only way to legitimacy is documented success. My daily betting card is a start. I want records, I want units tracked. No one’s going to ever do that, but maybe other places will realize that’s really how it’s done. That’s how you simulate someone’s performance on a day-to-day basis. We don’t have that. We don’t have a degree or a PhD you can get in another space. We don’t have that to put on the screen.
We have some contests. I did well on the college football contest last year at William Hill. That’s other stuff, but that’s not really day-to-day. That’s a lot of game theory and things like that, which is still representative of acumen but it’s just a different animal. That contest required I do eight picks every week. Was I betting every eighth game? No. And were the numbers sometimes different than the market? Yeah, so it’s just different acumen, but it’s understanding things for sure.
BN: What would be the ideal outcome for your new project and what you’d like to accomplish?
DK: Basically what I want to do is put in all the work and do the heavy lifting and aggregating for the consumer. Right now it’s structured in a way where they’re asked to absorb other people, individually. Well, if this is complex, and less than 1% of people actually make money, how much are you really helping the consumer if you’re asking them to consume hours and hours and hours? You’re still asking them to make decisions. Why not have someone else aggregate it all for them and tell them what’s going on in the marketplace, why the numbers are moving, and what’s truly occurring?
It doesn’t mean it’s the only opinion, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be 100% right, but if I have demonstrated myself to have transparency and credibility and care for the content, then at least I can slap my name on something and say, this is what I think is the right option because of X, Y, and Z.
It’s really similar to a travel person. There’s a guy like Rick Steves. He’ll go spend months and months in Rome, stay at all the hotels, talk to all these places, all the restaurants. He’s probably been to Rome, I don’t know, 10 different times. So if I’m going to Rome, I know his book is going to be thorough, vetted, and he’s telling me what he thinks are the six hotels that are the most cost-effective, and the five nicest restaurants and things like that.
I basically outsourced a lot of the heavy lifting to someone like that who’s put in all the work. I, at least, have a report from him or his book or his travel show, where all that information has come from. And then I can make the decision. He’ll say, I think this is the best option for this price point. It’s sort of taking that concept.
People who don’t have a lot of time, want to outsource a lot of this and just want to be educated, but also be sort of guided. Right now, I consume a lot of the networks because I’m aggregating and a lot of these people have observations. I feel like part of my skills are how to absorb that info and find value in it. I consume a lot, but I think it’s a lot to ask the regular viewer to do it all if they’re serious about learning betting and winning.
BN: Where can people find all of your content?
DK: The show is called Wager Watch with Doug Kezirian. And the company is called Only Players.
OnlyPlayers.com is the homepage. If you go to it, my betting card is right there. Since we launched in August, it’s every bet that’s been made. We have a video player on the homepage and all the latest segments are there. We have different categories. We have a live odds page. We have a picks and analysis, which a majority of our content is going to be.
OnlyPlayers.com has been in business for a while with various ideas. Then they pivoted in spring, I came on board and we went betting-specific. I was able to be in charge. Technically, I’m Chief Content Officer, so we pivoted in that regard.
The key is, it’s going to be different because it’s a boutique option. We’re not going to have a bunch of analysts discussing games. That’s my job. My job is to basically be the only analyst, and during the day I talk to all of the other analysts and the oddsmakers.
I aggregate everything and I present the consumer with all the information that they need. We have a rotating host, which makes it different and fun, but I’m telling everyone and I’m sharing what I’ve been able to aggregate throughout the day and the week. That’s the difference.
Other places have other analysts and they’re all shared opinions. On this show, I’m the one who has aggregated it all. Instead of having every GM on SportsCenter, they just have Schefter. He’ll say this is what’s going on behind the scenes. That’s what I’m doing, but I’m incorporating my analysis as well. It’s me and a bunch of people. Instead of having to watch an hour of people talking about those four games, you get it all in four minutes.
But I’m just thrilled because I have an awesome team behind me. I get to control all content and do things my way. I can explain betting the way I want, which I think is what the space is lacking on a few fronts. With the awesome team behind me, and I’m involved in sales distribution, I’ve got equity in the company, like what more could I want?
BN: Well, I hope you have fun with it, Doug. I hope it’s successful.
DK: Thank you. I appreciate that.
Brian Noe is a columnist for BSM and an on-air host heard nationwide on FOX Sports Radio’s Countdown To Kickoff. Previous roles include stops in Portland, OR, Albany, NY and Fresno, CA. You can follow him on Twitter @TheNoeShow or email him at bnoe@premierenetworks.com.
