When sports betting emerged as legal, proponents said it should have a positive impact on viewership of games. Seems the prognosticators were correct.
To date, 13 states have some sort of legalized sports gambling. Only Oregon came aboard during the NFL season. Despite involving just a quarter of the country, viewership has grown—a lot.
Television ratings for games is up more than five percent from last season, or roughly 17 million additional pairs of eyes, according to Gambling USA. Most notably, digital viewing has shot up a significant 49 percent compared to last season, as well.
“That is certainly a big influence,” said New York Giants co-owner and treasurer Jonathan Tisch in a recent interview on CNBC. “Obviously, if you’re betting on a certain game, you’re going to watch to see what happens and you’re going to watch until the bitter end because there are many games won on a field goal with three seconds left.”
While NFL heavyweights were prepared for sports betting to become official, Tisch thinks the future will bring opportunities for fans to place wagers at stadiums where the games are being played. After all, his Giants team plays within the same complex as the FanDuel Sportsbook at Meadowlands Racetrack—the most lucrative sportsbook in New Jersey.
“I think the NFL is getting ready for it,” he said. “Due to the NFL’s revenue-sharing structure among its 32 teams, decisions about how to distribute betting revenue would need to take place at a level beyond just one franchise.”
