Stephen A. Smith hits the Pool Hall with ESPN

As the NBA Playoffs heat up, ESPN BET sportsbook is right in the action.

This new spot, titled Pool Hall, features the legendary on-air personality, ESPN on NBA analyst and host of First Take, Stephen A. Smith. This is Smith’s debut appearance in BET’s What a Play. campaign, which has featured other ESPN talent including Scott Van Pelt, Elle Duncan, Mike Greenberg, Kendrick Perkins, and Stanford Steve. What a Play. launched in tandem with ESPN BET’s debut in November, 2023.

Pool Hall shares the same fan-centric and conversational approach inherent to the brand platform, while staying true to Stephen A.’s confident personality that fans know and love. At one point in Pool Hall, which was filmed in New York at Amsterdam Billiards, Stephen A.quips: “Speaking of winning, I’m gonna close this out right now.” You’ll have to tune in to see if he delivers!

ESPN – Pool Hall

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Agency Arts & Letters/Richmond
Production Company O Positive
Director Kenny Herzog

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Credits

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Agency Arts & Letters/Richmond
Production Company O Positive
Director Kenny Herzog
Edit Company XYZ (In-House at Arts & Letters/Richmond)
Finishing/VFX Company Method Studios/Los Angeles
Sound Design Sonic Union
Executive Creative Director Charles Hodges
Executive Creative Director Molly Jamison

Creative Director Chris Kim
Creative Director Andrew Kong
Creative Sam Christian
Creative Brendan Howard
Creative Justin Herb
HP Lisa Gatto Setten
Executive Producer Calleen Colburn
Senior Producer Momo Berg-Munch

Executive Producer Marc Grill
Executive Producer Ralph Laucella
Executive Producer Ken Licata
Head of Production Devon Clark
DP Jonathan Freeman / (DP)
Editor Pat Blumer
Executive Producer Whitney Green
Post Producer Rob Rosko

Executive Producer Ananda Reavis
Producer Laura Duncan
Colorist Tim Masick
Producer Gwen Frey
Sound Designer/Audio Mixer Steve Rosen
Producer Gina Petrarca
Talent Stephen A Smith

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The spot which debuted on SportsCenter this past weekend and is running on ESPN platforms and across paid channels throughout the NBA Playoffs. We are also excited to share that Stephen A. will star in the next BET spot that comes out later this summer.

“We’re thrilled to introduce this new ad spot, which marks Stephen A. Smith’s debut in our ESPN BET commercial creative,” said Jennifer Weissman, Chief Marketing Officer, PENN Entertainment. “Featuring such a recognisable talent in Stephen A., who is at the epicentre of the daily sports conversation, further strengthens the connection between media and betting with the ESPN and ESPN BET brands.”

“We knew with this round of work, we had to utilise Stephen A.’s controversial and opinionated takes on sports and life,” said Chris Kim, Creative Director at Arts & Letters. “Those hot takes mixed with the elevated drama of the Playoffs were a recipe for some of our favourites spots in the campaign to date.”