Rece’s Regrettable Remark: Risk-Free Overreaction

Live entertainment is a bit of a tightrope act. People are paid to be quick on their feet, to be engaging, to be able to say the right thing and keep the show moving.

Around 99.99% of the time, this goes off without a hitch, but that .01% … yeesh. I speak from experience – I’ve been doing live FM talk radio for a decade, and every so often, my mouth gets out ahead of my brain. I’ve cursed on the show before, and then have to reach for the “dump” button to initiate a delay. I’ve said things that could be construed as … well, politically incorrect. I’ve been dumb.

Even the most seasoned professionals with a microphone on their lapel and a camera in front of them can bungle the assignment. Perhaps no assignment was bungled more famously than by longtime New York news anchor Ernie Anastos. (Clip below NSFW, and when you watch it a second time – and you will – note the reaction of the co-anchor.)

My point: Rece Davis, I forgive you. For this and other reasons.

Risk-free!?

On Sunday, Awful Announcing shared the now-viral clip of ESPN’s Davis, the host of ESPN College GameDay, doing an ESPN Bet hit with Erin Dolan. Dolan was arguing why betting the under on Northwestern’s point total against UConn was a smart bet, despite the total being set at a paltry 60.5.

She discussed how the tempo was going to be slow, how the defenses are both solid, how Northwestern scored 77 points in their opening round game, but that 19 of those points were in overtime.

As Dolan finished her spiel, Davis came in to close out the segment.

He would’ve been better off lighting his tie on fire.

“You know what?” Davis started, “some would call this wagering, gambling; I think the way you’ve sold this-”

“It’s sweating,” Dolan interjected, but too little, too late.

“No, what it is, is risk-free investment,” Davis said.

“You know what? Some would call this wagering, gambling; the way you’ve sold this, I think what it is, is a risk-free investment,” said ESPN’s Rece Davis after an ESPN Bet segment with Erin Dolan. pic.twitter.com/257daMIBON

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 24, 2024

Davis was predictably raked over the coals on social media – and deservingly so. It was a stupid thing to say.

Barstool: :Makes an absolute mockery of responsible gambling:

ESPN: hold my beer

— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) March 24, 2024

This is way more damaging to the sports betting industry than anything going on with Shohei Ohtani

— Jared Smith (@jaredleesmith) March 24, 2024

Davis took to X to not-quite apologize for his “joke.”

“Obviously, there are risks,” he wrote in part. “Though I’m not a gambler, I strongly encourage those who do partake, do so with prudence, care, caution, fiscal and personal responsibility, and never over-extend. Sports are unpredictable. Wagering is tricky. So let’s agree to manage monetary risks appropriately. I’m sure most recognized my comment was tongue-in-cheek. Just to clarify.”

Should he have said it in the first place? Obviously not. Will some regulators take a hard look at this? Probably. Will the Massachusetts Gaming Commission hold 964 hours of meetings on the Latin root of “risk free?” Undoubtedly. 

But uh … I don’t know. To me, this seems like a lot of pearl clutching and hand-wringing for the sake of pearl clutching and hand-wringing.

It was a stupid thing to say, I would imagine there’s a flurry of HR memos being sent in Bristol, and I’m willing to bet (pun intended) it doesn’t happen again on an ESPN College GameDay broadcast where the host is speaking to a ESPN Bet talking head about some half-baked idea for a bet. 

Honestly, if we want to clutch pearls and wring hands, maybe it should be about the fact they’re doing ESPN Bet promos on ESPN College GameDay in the first place. (Ducks).

Pick your battles

Is what Davis said a bad look? Of course, but mistakes happen, and that’s really all this is. You’d have to be both dumb and degenerate to have heard what Davis said and then run to place the bet. (I wish I was both, as the bet won, with Northwestern putting up a 58-spot.)

You want to be worried about responsible gambling and/or the state of the U.S. sports betting industry?

Allow me to direct your attention to Temple basketball … and Rudy Gobert … and Shohei Ohtani … 

Shall I go on? I’ll go on.

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins encouraging 16-team parlays … J.B. Bickerstaff being threatened by gamblers … by the way, all of this has been in this month alone.

But Rece Davis saying – clearly jokingly – that Northwestern under 60.5 is a “risk-free investment” is what we’ve decided to concern ourselves with? 

Again: Yes, it’s bad, but in the grand scheme of things related to the world of legalized sports betting, I have two words: Come on. It moved the responsible gambling needle back by about a quarter of a millimeter. We will survive this.

Coming down on Davis for this is fish-in-the-barrel easy. Actually tackling the very real issues this industry is, and will be, facing (see Rep. Paul Tonko’s new bill for some idea) is fly-fishing-for-great-white levels of hard.