Gill Alexander

Gill has been a top-rated television and radio personality since 1991, first making his mark in music formats at the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. (WUSA-TV) and the Bay Area at KMEL-FM in San Francisco, ultimately becoming a pioneer in the sports betting podcasting category and an innovator in the use of sabermetrics in handicapping baseball.

For the past six years, Alexander’s “Beating the Book” podcast has played to a global audience and has achieved remarkable worldwide listenership through a transparent approach that eschews the touting of records in favor of one that highlights the viewpoints and varied perspectives of a who’s who of prominent players throughout the sports betting and fantasy sports industries. Downloaded by record numbers year after year, the “Beating The Book” pod consistently cracks the iTunes U.S. Top 100 Sports Category episodes chart while maintaining the singular mission of helping sports bettors get better at their craft by exposing them to advanced level betting concepts. The show is also credited with discovering industry influencers and helping to launch the careers of current contributors to FanGraphs and ESPN Chalk.

In his words…

“I was 6 when I first watched the Redskins play on TV. From that point on, nothing else mattered in life. I was the kid in fifth grade who risked suspension by starting his own football pool. No one dared me or taught me how to do it. It was just in me. The common language of bettors was already evident in my daily life. Obsessed with baseball cards throughout my childhood and a Beckett Price guide that was never out of arm’s reach, it seems pretty obvious that I’d be here today, but, in fact, there was a long detour into music radio along the way.

“As a teenager growing up in Washington, D.C., I talked my way into internships with R&B radio legends, Wendy Williams (yes, her) and Donnie Simpson. Then, within a year, I parlayed a $5/hour job at the local CBS affiliate in D.C. into a role as host and producer of my own nightly music video show in the eighth-largest market in the country. Life just kind of started happening to me. In 1995, I was hired by the Bay Area’s No. 1 music station, KMEL-FM, to host its nighttime show. Some people would’ve killed for that life, but all the while, I couldn’t shake what I came to naturally, as a kid. Reading “Moneyball” in 2003 got me back on the right course. As I read about the inefficiencies in the baseball player personnel market, all I could think about was applying those same concepts to handicapping baseball and doing a show about sports betting, in general. The rest is history.

Favorite athlete of all-time: Sugar Ray Leonard

Favorite boxing match of all-time: Leonard-Hearns I, 1981. “Shifting tide, ebb and flow, when have you seen a fight…like…this!” – Howard Cosell

Favorite sporting event ever attended: NFC Championship, January 1983. Redskins 31, Cowboys 17, as the stands at RFK Stadium bounced. I’ve been to a Super Bowl, NBA Championship and World Series games. None of them are close.

Favorite concerts attended: The Jacksons, RFK Stadium, 1984. Stevie Wonder, Capital Centre, Landover, 1985. D’Angelo, Bimbo’s, San Francisco 1995.  Bruno Mars, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, 2013.

“Ran with the bulls in Spain when I was a teenager. Got a little gamble in me.”