According to Nielsen, of the 100 most watched U.S. TV broadcasts of 2023, 93 (!) were NFL games. That number is up from 82 in 2022, 75 in 2021, and 72 in 2020.
In fact, in 2023, each of the top 20 broadcasts were Super Bowl postgame show.
So, what have we learned here? That football is quite popular in the U.S. of A. And, in turn, that the networks that have paid for the rights to air live football games presumably are thankful they did.
And those networks — plus any other networks that air sports or air programming geared toward a sports-watching audience — should be beyond thankful that the Supreme Court sports betting outside Nevada.
According to EDO Ad EnGage, sports gambling TV ad spend continued to increase in 2023, especially during the programming period from Sept. 1-Dec. 26 — i.e., football season. EDO, a company co-founded by Ed Norton — yes, that Ed Norton — shared its estimates as 2023 wound down, and the numbers are telling. According to EDO:
- Total sports gambling TV ad spend in 2023 reached $237.8 million, up 10% over 2022.
- Sports gambling ad “impressions” (another word for views) rose 52% from 13.6 billion in ’22 to 20.7 billion in ‘23.
- The number of sports gambling ad airings more than doubled, from about 27,000 to nearly 60,000.
- Sports betting ad airings rose significantly, even on networks not known primarily for their live sports programming, including TBS, FXX, truTV, Discovery Life Channel, and American Heroes Channel.
EDO singled out two networks/platforms with a particular rise in sports gambling ad dollars: Amazon Prime Video, which airs Thursday Night Football, up from $27.9 million in the final four months of 2022 to $41 million in the same period in ’23; and ABC, which aired Monday Night Football (along with ESPN) every week this season due to the writer and actor strikes and jumped from $4.6 million in sports betting ad intake in the ’22 football season to $11.9 million in ’23.
There’s no shortage of entities benefiting from the spread of sports betting apps, from consumers who derive entertainment value from betting, to sportsbook operators, to state governments collecting taxes, to media outlets covering the industry (like Sports Handle).
As the numbers make clear, we can count the TV networks and streamers among the big winners. Sports betting and the NFL have been proving mutually financially beneficial for the past five years, and together they’re making the network ad sales departments’ jobs a lot easier.
Still kicking around 43a
Speaking of sports gambling ad spend, FanDuel Sportsbook and Rob Gronkowski are taking another swing with a live Super Bowl commercial, the operator and the future NFL Hall of Famer announced Tuesday morning.
For “Kick of Destiny 2,” FanDuel customers will have the opportunity to predict whether Gronk will make his 25-yard field goal attempt during Super Bowl LVIII, and those who guess correctly will earn a share of $10 million in bonus bets.
Last year, Adam Vinatieri served as Gronk’s coach and came up a little short. This year, at least in the commercials, it’s Carl Weathers who’s providing guidance. Weathers knows his way around a football field — he briefly played linebacker for the Raiders in the early ‘70s — but here he’ll be trying to replicate the success he had coaching Rocky Balboa past Clubber Lang and Happy Gilmore over Shooter McGavin.
We’ll set the early odds on a Gronk make at -180. But if the public loads up on the “yes” side, then the correct game theory play may be to predict another miss and split the prize pool with fewer people.
ESPN expands written sports betting coverage 604g57
Covering the sports betting industry has turned into a full-time job post-PASPA. And at ESPN, it has now turned into two full-time jobs.
The Worldwide Leader announced last week the addition of writer Doug Greenberg to a stable that already includes highly respected industry reporter David Purdum. Greenberg comes over from Front Office Sports, where he worked for nearly three years.
His role at ESPN, according to the company’s press release, “will primarily be covering the sports betting industry with articles focused on but not limited to stories around trending news in the betting world, major money swings or odds shifts, significant bets placed, a weekly signature file, and more.”
Said Greenberg in the release: “I am ecstatic to be ing this world-class editorial team to cover the wide world of sports betting, which seems to expand by the day. Sports betting is the game within the game that is keeping sports fans more engaged than ever before, so I look forward to providing the highest quality reporting to help readers with their wagers … and having some fun while doing it.”
Way to go, Joe! 3z2a5m
Congrats go out to another member of the ESPN sports betting media family, Daily Wager contributor Joe Fortenbaugh, who padded his bankroll this NFL season with a cash (split three ways) in one of Las Vegas’ biggest season-long picks contests:
5,247 entries in the @CircaSports Million V & somehow @CroweMedia, @JonGoulet & I snuck into the top-100 & cashed in 77th. Went 54-33-3 (62%).
Been chasing a cash since this event launched. Big thanks to @DerekJStevens, @JeffreyBenson12 & the Circa team on an awesome experience.
— Joe Fortenbaugh (@JoeFortenbaugh) January 9, 2024
