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August 16, 2024 3:53 PM Subscribe
"Audiences are still being produced and sold. That dynamic hasn’t changed. What’s changed is who’s doing the buying: not just advertisers anymore but, increasingly, gambling companies. This isn’t a small distinction. Advertisers want your time and attention, in return for which you get a TV show or a magazine article; if you decide down the line to buy that Ford F-150 on offer, so much the better, but the sale itself is the secondary goal. Casinos want something else. The sale is the only goal."
A surprisingly deep article on the impact of sports gambling on sports media, relevant to anyone interested in the economics of media generally. The words "If you're not paying for the service, you may be the product" do not appear in this article, but you may be interested to learn that the concept of "audience commodity," which first lays out this dynamic, dates all the way back to 1939, and has its roots in sports journalism.
Sports betting on the blue:
Previously, 2016
Previously, 2015
Previously, 2013
Previously, 2012
Previously, 2009
Previously, 2002
A surprisingly deep article on the impact of sports gambling on sports media, relevant to anyone interested in the economics of media generally. The words "If you're not paying for the service, you may be the product" do not appear in this article, but you may be interested to learn that the concept of "audience commodity," which first lays out this dynamic, dates all the way back to 1939, and has its roots in sports journalism.
Sports betting on the blue:
Previously, 2016
Previously, 2015
Previously, 2013
Previously, 2012
Previously, 2009
Previously, 2002
And on top of this the online age gating for sports betting isn’t secure. My 15 year old niece told me about boys in her class doing this for fun. At least if you are out in the alley shooting craps you get some social interaction. I personally think there will be a class action suit on this issue some time soon.
posted by Word_Salad at 5:14 PM on August 16 [4 favorites]
posted by Word_Salad at 5:14 PM on August 16 [4 favorites]
Full disclosure didn't read the fine article(s). But I've been noticing subtle hints in my mind-melting time spent on youtube shorts, and seeing lots of, shall we say 'gambling normalization'. I'll get to the articles I suppose, but this is relevant to my current 'finger on the pulse' interests.
posted by jpziller at 5:48 PM on August 16 [1 favorite]
posted by jpziller at 5:48 PM on August 16 [1 favorite]
I was on an NJ Transit train prior to a sports event earlier in the week and the car was packed with teens who were constantly talking about their bets. I don't think a lot of people are aware of how bad this has gotten, and how quickly.
posted by phooky at 6:27 PM on August 16 [8 favorites]
posted by phooky at 6:27 PM on August 16 [8 favorites]
I don't think a lot of people are aware of how bad this has gotten, and how quickly.
Is this worse than the Texas Hold'em pandemic of 2005?
posted by pwnguin at 6:51 PM on August 16 [3 favorites]
Is this worse than the Texas Hold'em pandemic of 2005?
posted by pwnguin at 6:51 PM on August 16 [3 favorites]
Is this worse than the Texas Hold'em pandemic of 2005?
Significantly. You can actually win at poker.
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:03 PM on August 16 [22 favorites]
Significantly. You can actually win at poker.
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:03 PM on August 16 [22 favorites]
(In all seriousness: poker, at least tournament-style poker, is a fair game. The house has no advantage. The first player has an advantage, but that's why tournament-style play has rotating positions. Sports betting fundamentally advantages the house, like almost all gambling.)
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:30 PM on August 16 [8 favorites]
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:30 PM on August 16 [8 favorites]
I always suspected that Lady Gaga and Katy Perry (and/or whoever wrote them) were paid for their songs about gambling.
posted by davey_darling at 8:35 PM on August 16 [3 favorites]
posted by davey_darling at 8:35 PM on August 16 [3 favorites]
I’m a sports fan, more college than pro, and I have watched this transformation. It’s bad. It used to be kind of the normal rule that a lot of sports journalism didn’t discuss gambling. Papers might publish point spreads but that was about it. Everyone knew that if you wanted to bet on games you either went to Vegas or you went through a shady bookie. Maybe you bet a friend $10 on a game on occasion. Gambling on sports was for the most part a sideshow. That’s all changed. ESPN has its own fucking sportsbook now. Ads for betting sites are everywhere. For a while there was absolutely no escaping Draft Kings and FanDuel ads as they battled for market share. MLB was justified in banning Pete Rose because he broke the cardinal rule for players and managers - you do not bet on baseball. And now look at them, there are betting windows in the ballparks now.
What’s insidious is not just how widespread gambling is, it’s how much there is to bet on. You can bet midgame with a revised point spread (which is really bad because it’s such an easy way to compound your losses.) There’s prop bets everywhere. Then there’s the parlays. There are so many ways to bet. There are so many games on which people can and do place bets. You can place a bet anytime, anywhere. The consequences are predictable. Multiple studies are finding big jumps in debt, collections and bankruptcies in states where sports betting is legal.
Another effect - players are getting caught up in the crossfire of gambling. Miss a kick that would have covered the spread? You might get angry or threatening messages from people who just lost their bet on your game. Last season Utah’s starting QB sat out the season opener and a lot of gamblers were raising hell because they weren’t told he wouldn’t be playing. Some players are betting on games (Notre Dame swimming just got suspended for at least a year for running their own swimming sportsbook, seriously.) Where there’s gambling there will be players pressured to fix games. Back in the 90s, Steven “Hedake” Smith went to jail for point shaving. I can only imagine how many players get contacted via online messaging and getting promised big sums to throw games.
I don’t bet on games. The closest I’ll come is sometimes I’ll bet a friend lunch on a rivalry game, but heck one of us is typically buying the other lunch anyways. But everywhere I turn I’m seeing more and more people betting on games. It really sucks that sports have gone this direction. I suppose it was inevitable, but still.
A little extra reading if ya want - Alex Kirshner writes about the end of the golden age of sports betting
posted by azpenguin at 10:49 PM on August 16 [23 favorites]
What’s insidious is not just how widespread gambling is, it’s how much there is to bet on. You can bet midgame with a revised point spread (which is really bad because it’s such an easy way to compound your losses.) There’s prop bets everywhere. Then there’s the parlays. There are so many ways to bet. There are so many games on which people can and do place bets. You can place a bet anytime, anywhere. The consequences are predictable. Multiple studies are finding big jumps in debt, collections and bankruptcies in states where sports betting is legal.
Another effect - players are getting caught up in the crossfire of gambling. Miss a kick that would have covered the spread? You might get angry or threatening messages from people who just lost their bet on your game. Last season Utah’s starting QB sat out the season opener and a lot of gamblers were raising hell because they weren’t told he wouldn’t be playing. Some players are betting on games (Notre Dame swimming just got suspended for at least a year for running their own swimming sportsbook, seriously.) Where there’s gambling there will be players pressured to fix games. Back in the 90s, Steven “Hedake” Smith went to jail for point shaving. I can only imagine how many players get contacted via online messaging and getting promised big sums to throw games.
I don’t bet on games. The closest I’ll come is sometimes I’ll bet a friend lunch on a rivalry game, but heck one of us is typically buying the other lunch anyways. But everywhere I turn I’m seeing more and more people betting on games. It really sucks that sports have gone this direction. I suppose it was inevitable, but still.
A little extra reading if ya want - Alex Kirshner writes about the end of the golden age of sports betting
posted by azpenguin at 10:49 PM on August 16 [23 favorites]
The British have always been gambling on the footie with no obvious effect on fans' attachment to their team or on the quality of sports journalism.
the audience will relate to sports differently in response, more as investors watching portfolios.
Maybe some will. Who can say!
Over here casual investing in stocks is less of a thing anyway.
55% (11 out of 20) of English Premier League teams have a gambling company as a shirt sponsor.
The dynamics of this do involve Americans as a new legal market to some extent but it's more about Asia
Any oddity in a game, any bizarre outcome—the fun stuff of sports—is met on social media with an immediate suspicion that the fix is in
There have been scandals of this sort in Britain but they're rare and most people don't think about it. I think sports fans are fine. Americans have a new angle to pontificate on social media, that doesn't fundamentally change sport.
posted by doiheartwentyone at 11:43 PM on August 16 [2 favorites]
the audience will relate to sports differently in response, more as investors watching portfolios.
Maybe some will. Who can say!
Over here casual investing in stocks is less of a thing anyway.
55% (11 out of 20) of English Premier League teams have a gambling company as a shirt sponsor.
The dynamics of this do involve Americans as a new legal market to some extent but it's more about Asia
Any oddity in a game, any bizarre outcome—the fun stuff of sports—is met on social media with an immediate suspicion that the fix is in
There have been scandals of this sort in Britain but they're rare and most people don't think about it. I think sports fans are fine. Americans have a new angle to pontificate on social media, that doesn't fundamentally change sport.
posted by doiheartwentyone at 11:43 PM on August 16 [2 favorites]
Smedly, thank you. i've also found helpful works like The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports and Predominantly White N.C.A.A. Institutions [g]
posted by HearHere at 4:06 AM on August 17 [2 favorites]
posted by HearHere at 4:06 AM on August 17 [2 favorites]
It struck me while watching yet another online gambling ad that this is perhaps the only legal product where the ads feature prominently a warning that you may need to seek professional help for serious addiction to the product.
Not even like the booze ads that have it tiny print at the end of the ad, this is present for the entire ad.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:20 AM on August 17 [5 favorites]
Not even like the booze ads that have it tiny print at the end of the ad, this is present for the entire ad.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:20 AM on August 17 [5 favorites]
The existence of apps designed to get people started gambling, using the same dark patterns that drive microtransaction to keep people trying to win their money back, is terrible enough. Putting ads on TV and access to betting in the addicts pocket is criminal.
This isn't like playing a ball board or putting a couple bucks on the line with a friend. This is a predatory industry designed to create compulsive, self destructive behavior. The executives responsible for these companies, as well as those who take money to normalize and advertize them deserve to be cursed in the same breath as tobacco and big oil executives who deliberately create crises while feigning ignorance of the consequences of their actions.
posted by pattern juggler at 5:15 AM on August 17 [17 favorites]
This isn't like playing a ball board or putting a couple bucks on the line with a friend. This is a predatory industry designed to create compulsive, self destructive behavior. The executives responsible for these companies, as well as those who take money to normalize and advertize them deserve to be cursed in the same breath as tobacco and big oil executives who deliberately create crises while feigning ignorance of the consequences of their actions.
posted by pattern juggler at 5:15 AM on August 17 [17 favorites]
Way before any of this exploded into everyday life, a restaurant and a golf course was lost to Foxwoods due to gambling debts.
posted by DJZouke at 5:22 AM on August 17
posted by DJZouke at 5:22 AM on August 17
'It struck me while watching yet another online gambling ad that this is perhaps the only legal product where the ads feature prominently a warning that you may need to seek professional help for serious addiction to the product."
Yes but the font size is so small that you need binoculars to read it!
posted by DJZouke at 5:25 AM on August 17
Yes but the font size is so small that you need binoculars to read it!
posted by DJZouke at 5:25 AM on August 17
A student, a young man, was being given an award at my university, and in his speech said, "Every girl on this campus has her nose buried in three different books, and every guy owes $5000 to Draft Kings", and it went immediately viral because my students all said it represented the truth. I know in general women have it worse, but there is a serious crisis among young men getting dragged deeper and deeper into Shittiness, especially right-wing politics, through microtargeted propaganda centered around toxic masculinity. Sports betting is just one aspect of this.
When I listen to baseball on the radio, there's always two ads from religious groups, which annoys the crap out of me, but lately, one of them has taken to saying something along the lines of "you're not going to lose your immortal soul through sports betting, but you're going to lose everything else", and this is literally the first time in nearly six decades of life where I find myself agreeing with a preacher.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:38 AM on August 17 [14 favorites]
When I listen to baseball on the radio, there's always two ads from religious groups, which annoys the crap out of me, but lately, one of them has taken to saying something along the lines of "you're not going to lose your immortal soul through sports betting, but you're going to lose everything else", and this is literally the first time in nearly six decades of life where I find myself agreeing with a preacher.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:38 AM on August 17 [14 favorites]
I'm not generally the kind of person who talks about moral decline, but I think the legalization of gambling in this country represents a very clear moral decline. We used to know that gambling was the province of mobsters, that decent people were above it. Ultimately, though, capitalism gonna capitalize. It's almost as if we need to put some moral restraints on it. But that can't be right, can it? Capitalism could never hurt us!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:27 AM on August 17 [14 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:27 AM on August 17 [14 favorites]
I have a fair amount of trouble reconciling my feeling that widespread legalized gambling is a bad thing with my belief that people should, generally speaking, be legally free to do what they want to in this country (the US).
posted by Juffo-Wup at 10:44 AM on August 17 [2 favorites]
posted by Juffo-Wup at 10:44 AM on August 17 [2 favorites]
Those pearls are clutch. You can't tut about sports gambling without also tutting about the foundational place speculative investment has in capitalist economies -- I'll take that as a given.
Gambling is taxed and regulated in the UK, we do have huge problems with game machines in licensed gambling shops taking thousands of pounds off people and debts adding up.
I also get that drive to be an agent in an unpredictable world. You want to earn from having an understanding of the world others do not; you're special, I get it. We can weight the probabilities so you earn a little but the house comes out on top, and now we've got ridiculous amounts of computer power, we can price so many events in during any sports game.
Remember: if you can't spot the chump in the deal, it's you.
posted by k3ninho at 11:46 AM on August 17 [1 favorite]
Gambling is taxed and regulated in the UK, we do have huge problems with game machines in licensed gambling shops taking thousands of pounds off people and debts adding up.
I also get that drive to be an agent in an unpredictable world. You want to earn from having an understanding of the world others do not; you're special, I get it. We can weight the probabilities so you earn a little but the house comes out on top, and now we've got ridiculous amounts of computer power, we can price so many events in during any sports game.
Remember: if you can't spot the chump in the deal, it's you.
posted by k3ninho at 11:46 AM on August 17 [1 favorite]
A study in July by some folks at USC and UCLA found that, in states where online gambling has been legalized, there is "a substantial increase in bankruptcy rates, debt collections, debt consolidation loans, and auto loan delinquencies."
I think the concern is a bit more than just some "tutting," k3ninho.
posted by Frayed Knot at 2:29 PM on August 17 [3 favorites]
I think the concern is a bit more than just some "tutting," k3ninho.
posted by Frayed Knot at 2:29 PM on August 17 [3 favorites]
Unconnected thoughts:
(1) Growing up in Oklahoma, I loved seeing the growth of tribal institutions that have been funded by the casinos. However when one was built on my side of town, it seemed like the news would report on more suicides, more cars driven into the river, sober drivers plowing into the trees surrounding the casino. By the time I turned 18 I had no desire to visit.
(2) Over conversations with 2-3 different therapists in social settings over the last year, all have remarked on the deluge of people seeking treatment for gambling addiction, and the lack of qualified providers and treatment programs. It's not exactly Opioid 2.0 but it's a stark change in their day-to-day landscape of referrals.
(3) I'll admit, I enjoyed the golden age of sports betting. Betting on college football seemed different from casino gambling. There was opportunity to get the upper hand in relative information disparity, Casinos just weren't paying close attention to smaller leagues. There was easy access to nerds who would explain advanced analytics. Heck, it prompted me to learn R. I ended up 57.8% against the spread over the course of three-to-four years, before Covid-era uncertainty drove me away.
(4) Sports Journalism is fast starting to resemble Jim Cramer's mad money, which makes it almost unreadable to me. I suppose sports journalism isn't vital in the same way a beat reporter at city council meetings is vital, and that's also dying, but it's still kinda a bummer.
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:15 PM on August 17 [3 favorites]
(1) Growing up in Oklahoma, I loved seeing the growth of tribal institutions that have been funded by the casinos. However when one was built on my side of town, it seemed like the news would report on more suicides, more cars driven into the river, sober drivers plowing into the trees surrounding the casino. By the time I turned 18 I had no desire to visit.
(2) Over conversations with 2-3 different therapists in social settings over the last year, all have remarked on the deluge of people seeking treatment for gambling addiction, and the lack of qualified providers and treatment programs. It's not exactly Opioid 2.0 but it's a stark change in their day-to-day landscape of referrals.
(3) I'll admit, I enjoyed the golden age of sports betting. Betting on college football seemed different from casino gambling. There was opportunity to get the upper hand in relative information disparity, Casinos just weren't paying close attention to smaller leagues. There was easy access to nerds who would explain advanced analytics. Heck, it prompted me to learn R. I ended up 57.8% against the spread over the course of three-to-four years, before Covid-era uncertainty drove me away.
(4) Sports Journalism is fast starting to resemble Jim Cramer's mad money, which makes it almost unreadable to me. I suppose sports journalism isn't vital in the same way a beat reporter at city council meetings is vital, and that's also dying, but it's still kinda a bummer.
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:15 PM on August 17 [3 favorites]
I will say as someone who has absolutely zero interest in sports betting, it's quite annoying to be barraged by ads for it all the time. It's not gonna work, fan duel, lay off. I don't care about your stupidly named games and I never will.
posted by axiom at 8:24 PM on August 17 [2 favorites]
posted by axiom at 8:24 PM on August 17 [2 favorites]
"I don't care about your stupidly named games and I never will."
And they don't care that you don't care. It costs them less to fire off a barrage of Ads like that than it does to "zero in"on the people that might have an interest.
Personally I *prefer* that they don't get smart enough with Surveillance to where they know how to target me with Ads. The Ads will be better, the rest not so much.
posted by aleph at 9:00 AM on August 18 [2 favorites]
And they don't care that you don't care. It costs them less to fire off a barrage of Ads like that than it does to "zero in"on the people that might have an interest.
Personally I *prefer* that they don't get smart enough with Surveillance to where they know how to target me with Ads. The Ads will be better, the rest not so much.
posted by aleph at 9:00 AM on August 18 [2 favorites]
Sports Journalism is fast starting to resemble Jim Cramer's mad money, which makes it almost unreadable to me. I suppose sports journalism isn't vital in the same way a beat reporter at city council meetings is vital, and that's also dying, but it's still kinda a bummer.
This is the thing I hate--the "innovation" that should supposedly affect only those who choose to participate inevitably ends up with unpleasant knock-on effects for a far wider circle. I often work out during NFL games. Something about the timing of play distracts me from the timer. But the gambling inserts in the coverage are horrible.
posted by praemunire at 11:05 AM on August 18 [1 favorite]
This is the thing I hate--the "innovation" that should supposedly affect only those who choose to participate inevitably ends up with unpleasant knock-on effects for a far wider circle. I often work out during NFL games. Something about the timing of play distracts me from the timer. But the gambling inserts in the coverage are horrible.
posted by praemunire at 11:05 AM on August 18 [1 favorite]
You ain't seen nothin' yet. Australia leads the world in per capita gambling losses, with every capital and regional city the site of a casino, and poker/slot machines in every suburb, not to mention the proliferation of TAB/betting shops.
Under massive pressure, the gambling lobby was forced to admit that most of its profits come from the top 10% of gamblers. The online gambling companies reserve the right to close your account if you are winning too much.
Pick any day of the week and somewhere in Australia, someone is being sent to prison for financial fraud to pay for gambling. Sit in any divorce court for a day, and gambling debt has ruined at least one marriage appearing before the judge.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 7:07 PM on August 18 [3 favorites]
Under massive pressure, the gambling lobby was forced to admit that most of its profits come from the top 10% of gamblers. The online gambling companies reserve the right to close your account if you are winning too much.
Pick any day of the week and somewhere in Australia, someone is being sent to prison for financial fraud to pay for gambling. Sit in any divorce court for a day, and gambling debt has ruined at least one marriage appearing before the judge.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 7:07 PM on August 18 [3 favorites]
The opiate crisis was years in the building and nobody did anything (much?) before the body count got too big.
But that was different times. I do have some hope things will be different with this.
posted by aleph at 7:55 PM on August 18
But that was different times. I do have some hope things will be different with this.
posted by aleph at 7:55 PM on August 18
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