LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Brown University men’s water polo alumnus Doug Kezirian discusses his experiences in sports broadcasting at ESPN and his position on ESPN’s Daily Wager on the Jim Rome Podcast.
The Los Angeles native graduated from Brown in 2000 with an Economics degree. While in Providence, where he was a four-year letterman, co-captain of its nationally-ranked team and led Bruno in scoring as both a junior and senior. While at Brown he pursued a vocation in communications with a campus radio job and summer television internships. His connection to the sport crossed over to his current job as he gave a shout-out to Brown when it won the 2014 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship.
After graduating from Brown, he served as the Sports Director and main sports anchor for KTNV-TV, the ABC affiliate, in Las Vegas. He anchored the daily sportscasts, in addition to the station’s high school football show. He was also a founder and co-host of “The Las Vegas Sportsline,” which is currently the highest-rated ESPN radio show in Las Vegas. In six years in Las Vegas, he covered several sporting events, as well as conducting one-on-one interviews with stars including: Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Mike Krzyzewski, Jimmie Johnson, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dana White. He also worked the red carpet and interviewed celebrities at numerous entertainment events in Las Vegas. Kezirian has reported on the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, the NCAA Tournament, BCS bowl games, NASCAR races, Stanley Cup Final, marquee boxing and UFC cards, and the World Series of Poker. His profession even took him to Guantanamo Bay, when he dabbled as a news anchor.
Kezirian joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor in July 2012, and has hosted several other ESPN programs: NBA Tonight, Friday Night Fights, Highlight Express, Buzzer Beater, Goal Line and First Take. Additionally, he has hosted halftime updates for college basketball, WNBA and Arena Football broadcasts, and has called college basketball as a play-by-play announcer.
He is currently the host of Daily Wager, ESPN’s daily sports betting news and information program that launched in March of 2019. He also is ESPN’s sports betting analyst, appearing across ESPN platforms to discuss issues, news and information related to sports betting. and he hosts the ESPN podcast Behind the Bets with Doug Kezirian. He has covered sports betting for more than 15 years.
