There are a lot of articles and studies about the interest generated in live sports when sports betting is in the mix. The Kansas KSU game tonight wont be real interesting to a lot of people but if they have KSU +12, or are making in game wagers or have it on a three team parlay (or whatever), it is different engagement from the person who is not a fan of those teams. I know a lot of people don't want that to be the case but there is no doubt it is. The NFL battled the gambling industry for years and then saw the way fantasy moved the sport and now we have constant ads for it - the NFL and all the other sports rights holders know the impact of people having a stake on the game.

Is it addictive? Absolutely. Are there people whose lives get ruined by it - no question there are. But since the S.Ct decision in 2018, the train started really rolling down the tracks and it is a full steam locomotive at this point.

I saw a study that noted that in blowout type games the percentage of fans who have no wager and are not affiliated with one of the teams will typically switch off the event. But those who have a wager on the game stay engaged at a much higher percentage. That is all factored into things like ESPN now has ESPNBet as an example and has shows and segments dedicated to sports betting. There used to be gasps when Al Michaels would make a comment when calling a game that implicated sports betting - he was sorta famous for that. Turns out he was ahead of his time in how things moved.