NBC's radio sports betting show expands into TV and Internet

NBC Sports Regional Networks will present a live video simulcast of The Daily Line, NBC Sports Radio’s weekday afternoon drive show focused on sports betting and other leading sports topics, on television in several top markets and via streaming nationwide, beginning August 5. Additionally, Sara Perlman will join Michael Jenkins and Tim Murray to serve as a co-host, beginning immediately.

The Daily Line, which was launched by NBC Sports Radio in conjunction with Westwood One on January 2, currently airs nationwide on NBC Sports Radio, the NBC Sports Scores app, and other digital audio platforms from 3-7 p.m. Eastern Time. Beginning this week, the television simulcast will be presented live on six NBC Sports Regional Networks channels in four top media markets, and will be available nationwide in its entirety to authenticated NBCSN subscribers on NBCSports.com/Bet and on the NBC Sports app.

The NBC Sports Regional Networks that will broadcast the four-hour program each weekday are Bay Area, Chicago, Chicago Plus, Philadelphia+,Washington and Washington Plus.

In an interview with the Bay Area News Group last year, NBC Sports Regional Networks chief David Preschlack was asked to predict how watching sports in five-10 years will be different. “I suspect the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow states to legalize sports betting will alter the consumption of live sports on multiple platforms,” he said. “Network executives will explore integrating sports-betting discussions into their broadcasts and launch gambling-related programming. Legalized sports betting will likely roll out more slowly than people expect, but it will have a massive impact on the regional sports network business.”

Perlman will join The Daily Line on August 5 to serve as co-host alongside Jenkins and Murray, who have led the show since its inception. Previously, she was MASN’s sideline reporter for the Baltimore Orioles, and she spent two seasons covering the Orioles and Washington Nationals for the network’s digital platforms. A graduate of the University of Florida, Perlman also spent time as a sideline reporter for UFC Fight Pass and host for CBS Sports.

The Daily Line, which is produced in NBC Sports Washington’s studios in Bethesda, Maryland, features special guests and additional unique content specific to casual and avid sports fans, fantasy players, and sports bettors. The radio program is exclusively distributed and represented by Cumulus Media’s Westwood One, the largest audio network in the US, as part of the NBC Sports audio products offered to stations across the nation.

NBC Sports Regional Networks is NBC Sports Group’s portfolio of nine regional networks that delivers more than 2,200 live sporting events and original content to more than 35 million homes. 

The expansion follows recent steps given by media companies towards the US sports betting business. In May, The Stars Group and Fox Sports announced a long-term commercial agreement to launch 'FOX Bet', the first-of-its-kind national media and sports wagering partnership in the US. A few days later, Caesars partnered with ESPN to serve as its official odds data supplier across TV and digital and to build a TV studio in The LINQ Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Also, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced a deal that would see the firm pay Disney USD 10.6 billion for 21 regional sports networks (RSN) around the country.