In an otherwise shrinking market, gambling is one of the remaining new revenue streams for the sports business.
Americans wagered away a projected $3 billion just during the March Madness college basketball tournament, which ends tonight. There’s good reason for that: Gambling has inspired a series of calamitous sports corruption scandals, from the infamous Black Sox scheme during the 1919 World Series to the 1950s point-shaving rackets in college basketball.īut as soon as the Supreme Court cleared the way for state legalization of sports betting in 2018, all the leagues, including the NFL, changed their tune, striking partnership deals with the biggest gambling companies. Less than a decade ago, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell condemned sports betting as a scourge that threatened the game’s integrity. If you know of a rollup like this, contact us at rollups(at). This story is part of a new Prospect series called Rollups, looking at obscure markets that have been rolled up by under-the-radar monopolies. These corporations combine the technology of high-frequency trading, the immersive consumer experience of day-trading apps like Robinhood, and the addiction business model of social media.
