The Conversation - Betting billions on the Super Bowl

Last year, Americans bet roughly $16 billion on the Super Bowl.

This year, it’s estimated to be a whopping $23 billion.

University of Iowa sports media scholar Thomas Oates isn’t shocked by this swift growth. Since the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports betting in 2018, nearly 40 states have legalized sports wagering in some capacity.

But the NFL’s complete 180 on gambling has come as somewhat of a surprise.

“Particularly in its early days, the NFL wanted to avoid the stain of bookies, bets, fixed games and the gambling crises that had befallen other professional sports leagues,” Oates writes. He points out that as recently as 2017, you could hear NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell dismissing gambling as a scourge on the “integrity” of the game.

What changed?

Much like a gambler salivating over the prospect of hitting the jackpot, the potential from marketing deals and sponsorships from sportsbooks proved too hard for the NFL to resist.

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