Show will feature rotating guest hosts
Sports news and commentary website Bleacher Report is set to debut the “B/R Betting Game Show” on Thursday night. The program is a live, interactive game show that will be filmed at the B/R Studio in the Caesars Palace sportsbook in Las Vegas.
Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson will be the show’s first guest host
Turner Sports and Caesars Entertainment have teamed up to produce the show, which will be shot in front of a live audience after the Thursday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets.
Audience members will compete for prizes
The “B/R Betting Game Show” will give audience members a chance to win cash and prizes. For example, in the game “Win or Destroy,” contestants will have to answer questions about a celebrity sports guest. Those who succeed will win memorabilia related to that guest. Those who fail will have to sit by and watch as that memorabilia gets thrown into an industrial shredder.
In “Champ or Chump,” participants will attempt to predict the outcomes of celebrity contests and sports challenges. “Regular on-the-spot challenges” will also be a part of the entertainment, according to Bleacher Report’s press release.
Though Bleacher Report is owned by Turner, the show will not air on television
The show has actually had several live test runs over the last few weeks, but Thursday’s show will be the first to be broadcast. Though Bleacher Report is owned by Turner, the show will not air on television, instead streaming via Bleacher Report’s social outlets. At first, only the “best, social-friendly segments,” will be put out to the public, according to Joe Yanarella, Bleacher Report senior vice president and general manager of sports betting, speaking with Front Office Sports.
Yanarella said the show “utilizes a little bit of Price is Right with mini-games.”
Bleacher Report Chief Content Officer Sam Toles told Front Office Sports that if the show does well, there is the possibility that it could find its way to one of Turner’s television channels, perhaps in a half-hour format.
Bleacher Report has boosted Caesars’ visibility
Caesars and Turner Sports initially formed their partnership in February, the first between a national television network and a casino operator. The Bleacher Report-branded sportsbook opened at Caesars Palace a few months later. Bleacher Report’s app and online shows feature betting lines presented by Caesars.
Caesars vice president of talent and production Kate Whiteley said that its relationship with Bleacher Report has been important to spreading its brand.
“It’s just a great opportunity,” Whiteley said. “We’re bullish on Bleacher and the way they communicate with the younger consumer. They do everything right to make it interesting for the my-younger-brothers of the world.”
