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I’m not breaking any news by saying that they are a plethora of sports betting, odds making, and wagering shows speckled across the sports media landscape. On Tuesday, October 1, I caught one of these programs in its first season, TNT Sports: The Line on truTV.
The show is wonderfully hosted by Keiana Martin, erstwhile host of MLB Network’s Quick Pitch. She brings style, attitude, enthusiasm, and presence to the proceedings and gets The Line started with an upbeat tone. From Martin’s on-camera intro, the show moved to a quick and slick high-tech video open then back to the host.
Martin recognized that, in sports, this is indeed “the most wonderful time of the year” with MLB and WNBA playoffs, college and pro football, and hockey and basketball not far behind. The effervescent Martin was then joined by betting analysts Sean Little and Tim Doyle.
These days, even traditional, meat and potatoes sportscasters position themselves as betting gurus – mostly to get lucrative endorsement deals with betting companies. On The Line however, Little and Doyle are for real. Doyle, the former Northwestern All-Conference hoopster and NYC playground baller has talked bets on CBS Sports Network and NBABet. He is a rabble-rousing rascal on air.
Little, whose Twitter/X handle is @ChicagoFlow, is Chi-Town cool with wagering media credits from MSG Networks, Action Network, and TNT. To paraphrase Barbara Mandrell, Doyle and Little were betting when betting wasn’t cool.
The triumvirate of Martin, Little, and Doyle drew me in and kept me glued. The show started with a look at the MLB postseason with a nice graphic of the matchup grid. As she did so ably on Quick Pitch, Martin added a strong voice to some video of the upcoming NL Wild Card matchups. Given her solid run on MLB Network, baseball is definitely a strong suit for Martin.
Little talked about the key doubleheader this past Monday between the Braves and Mets, which catapulted both teams into the postseason. He was correct in categorizing it as some of the most exciting baseball we’ve seen in a long time. Little then provided his best bets for the baseball action to come.
There are not a lot of superfluous frills with Little. He just gives you straight dope on the lines, trends, and smart bets. I like his minimalist yet authoritative delivery. If Little is the slow burning embers of The Line, then Doyle is the exploding gas fire. He brings a lot of shtick and showmanship to his monologues.
Doyle picked up where Little left off, talking about the Atlanta Braves chances in Game 1 of their Wild Card series vs. San Diego. He stated, “If you are betting the Braves, I want to hang out with you because you’re a sick, sick individual and I want to be friends with you.”
Doyle is entertaining as heck with his one-liners and jokes, but you can tell that underneath the Crest White Strips smile and Pat Rileyesque slicked back hairdo is a guy who knows the odds and can deliver cash money to viewers.
While Doyle was giving his baseball picks, a graphic showed the MLB teams who have had the best record since the All-Star break. It’s not just about talk with Little and Doyle. Both dudes toss out some heavy facts and numbers. You have to love a guy who still uses props on TV, and Doyle wields his trademark gold hammer whenever possible.
Throughout the show, both Little and Doyle provided some interesting and unique prop bets as well. I really think that the strength of this parlaying pair is how they combine statistical analysis with personality, wagering acumen, and good old-fashioned hunches. It makes for a nice mix of info and entertainment.
Unlike betting discussions on many other shows, Little and Doyle are betting guys who are good on TV, not TV guys trying to show that they are good at betting talk. The knowledge base is apparent. Doyle provided a nice analysis of Manny Machado as a prop bet while a graphic showed how Machado’s season turned around in the second half.
Like any great host, Martin does a nice job of picking her spots to stand down and let Little and Doyle do their things. When the right time comes, however, she knows how to get in and out of segments and lead her analysts down the right road.
Coming back from the first break, the show moves to discussing the odds, props, and trends for the WNBA Playoffs, specifically, the marquee matchup between the Aces and Liberty. First of all, it’s pretty cool to see a mainstream betting sports show devote ample time to the WNBA. Thank you, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Seriously, the arrival of Clark and Reese, and the overall raised play and profiles have catapulted the WNBA into the consciousness of sports fans. Betting analysis is no exception.
Little provided some nice insight into the Liberty saying that they tend to relax in the first quarter of home games. Doyle said that the key to the success for the Aces is getting more shots for A’ja Wilson. Just as they mingle game statistics with betting lines, Martin, Little, and Doyle nicely mix general sports talk with the betting data.
The Line is a hardcore betting show. Little and Doyle take deep dives into the numbers while Martin expertly moves the show from sports analysis to debate to money line action. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this program is that each of the participants seems to entertain the others. You can tell that they like the gig and each other.
Beyond the love, these cats do some bang-up research. They give bettors real talk on points, field goal attempts, rebounds, batting averages, and more for teams and individual players.
If variety is indeed the spice of life, then The Line is a fine mixture of paprika, celery salt, and chili powder. From MLB and WNBA action, the trio then took a header into NHL numbers. Thankfully, they did not waste time offering betting guidance on NHL preseason games, instead delving into the 2024-2025 Stanley Cup Champion odds with Vegas giving Edmonton the best chance to take home Lord Stanley’s mug.
Deana Martin led Little and Doyle into the futures market, getting their thoughts on who would win the cup this year. Little went with the favorite Oilers +800 while Doyle admittedly went “off the grid” picking the New Jersey Devils to win the cup at +1300.
Martin does a really nice job describing highlights and then tying the video to betting data. She terrifically combines talent, tenacity, and tempo. The show ends with the ‘Bottom Line’ segment where Little and Doyle give their best bets for the night. With information, intelligence, and insight, from points to props to players, TNT Sports: The Line is a winner, and could make you a winner.
John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
