A growing vice

As the ad starts, a woman leaps from a blimp flying over the big game, free-falling in black leather. She lands on the goal post like a character from “The Matrix,” just in time to deflect a field goal — as she warns against safe bets. “Life is a gamble,” says this cyberpunk Lady Luck. In shifting scenes, she joins Joe Namath promising to win Super Bowl III, Evel Knievel jumping his motorcycle over a line of buses, a couple in love getting tattoos. Take a risk, she urges, and be part of the action. 

The clip is a slick TV spot for Draft Kings, one of several online sports betting companies that blanketed February’s Super Bowl broadcast with similar productions. Some showcased celebrity athletes. Others offered free stakes or outsized payoffs to first-time users. All called on viewers to join a trend that has become inescapable. Watch this month’s NBA playoffs and you’ll likely face another barrage of gambling ads, sponsorships and even betting advice from on-air personalities. 

For decades, major sports leagues and the media entities that cover them shunned any links to gambling, real or perceived. Now, sports betting is a massive revenue stream, an expanding industry ruled by tech companies and corporations like FanDuel, BetMGM and Caesars sportsbook. Competing for attention, they sponsor jersey patches, TV segments, podcasts, in-game scoreboard ads, individual players — like Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson — and even ballparks. As recently as 2018, Las Vegas was barred from advertising during the NFL’s big game; but in 2024, the gambling mecca will host the Super Bowl. “At the end of the day, money is money,” NFL analyst Trey Wingo told The Washington Post last August, “and the NFL is really good at making money.”