Football owners, formerly vigerous opponents of legal sport betting, are increasingly seeing the positive side of it.
Owners like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys have recently hinted that sports betting was raising the passion of their fans.
But Jonatan Tisch , co-owner of the New York Giants, has done more than that. Speaking on CNBC’s ‘Power Lunch’ show on Thursday, he insisted that sports betting had helped boost the NFL’s TV ratings.
And he and the Giants are in a good position to know. They play their football out of the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey where online sports betting is legal and flourishing.
Tisch said sports betting in general and New Jersey sports betting especially had had a “big influence” on the ratings.
TV ratings on the Giants were up by 5% and digital consumption up by 49% as compared with last year.
US keen to keep sports betting clean
He didn’t say it, but there is also another key factor helping legal US sports betting gain a growing number of supporters among football administrators.
This is the determination of its legal sportsbooks to keep sports wagering clean, largely by:
- Preventing underaged punters and problem bettors from placing bets.
- Monitoring and spreading the word to the industry about suspicious wagering.
- And rooting out all players and officials who secretly try to play the betting game against the rules of their sport.
We saw a good example of this last week when the NFL suspended Josh Shaw indefinitely subject to an appeal.
The 27-year-old Arizona Cardinals’ defensive back allegedly placed a three-team parlay bet in Las Vegas. It included the Cardinals’ week 10 match against Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On discovering who he was, Caesars Entertainment, in line with industry policy, contacted the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the NFL.
Another case of a sports participant being reported for betting on the side occurred during the Rugby World Cup. The Welsh backline coach Rob Howley was abruptly sent home just six days before his country’s opening match. This too allegedly followed a report on his actions by a gaming operator.
