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Former ESPN producer Nicole Noren says the network did not approve her pitches for tougher reporting on gambling companies and addiction. In an interview with Columbia Journalism Review, she described ESPN Bet as the breaking point behind her departure.
Noren, who worked at ESPN for 24 years and won Emmy, Murrow and Peabody awards, criticized the network’s move into sports betting. Her account focuses on both ESPN’s commercial relationships and its editorial handling of gambling-related harm.
Noren Says Tougher Gambling Stories Went Unapproved
In the Columbia Journalism Review interview, Noren said she pitched stories that would take a harder look at gambling companies and addiction, but none were greenlit. She said ESPN later produced a more “neutered” show on the subject.
Noren also said ESPN did not offer a defense when she raised her concerns with network leaders. She criticized an interactive beginner’s guide to sports betting published by ESPN, describing it as offensive and youth-oriented.
Those statements represent Noren’s account of the network’s editorial decisions, rather than an established finding that ESPN suppressed reporting.
ESPN’s Shift From Gambling Caution to Betting Partnerships
ESPN’s stance on sports gambling softened after the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on bookmaking in 2018.
As recently as 2019, Disney chief Bob Iger had expressed caution about entering the business.
“I don’t see the Walt Disney Company, certainly in the near term, getting involved in the business of gambling, in effect, by facilitating gambling in any way,” Iger told investors.
In 2023, ESPN licensed its name to the ESPN Bet gambling app. The arrangement was described as a potential $1.5 billion revenue source for the network over 10 years.
ESPN later partnered with DraftKings, whose advertisements appear throughout ESPN coverage. Noren said the ESPN Bet move was the final straw for her.
“I was out. I’m not going to work for a gambling company and have blood on my hands,” she said.
Family Experience Shapes Noren’s Next Project
Noren told CJR that gambling addiction affected her grandfather, father and one brother. She described repeated family moves amid extreme financial swings tied to gambling.
“Addiction dictated every part of our life,” she said.
She said her brother became homeless and died in downtown Las Vegas at age 36.
Noren is now working with partners on a sports betting and gambling addiction content initiative involving journalists, content creators and nonprofit health organizations.
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Source: As reported by cjr.org.
