Biggest annual U.S. sporting events

If, by some means, all gambling on the NFL were eliminated, they'd be playing in front of crowds of 3,000 and the television ratings would be so small they'd be incalculable.

 

For a measure of spontaneous idiot laughter:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1090262/index.htm

 

Not to be a dope about this, but I didn't quote Danny Freaking Sheridan. I linked to an Al Neuharth piece; at the bottom of which - and not in the body of the story - appears a quote from Danny Sheridan. Of course I also linked to a report from the Commission on the Review of National Policy toward Gambling. So clearly, I've offered no evidence that huge sums of money are wagered on sports in this country.

 

If Sheridan's figures are correct -- and he's providing the numbers that Neuharth is quoting, so that doesn't make it any more legitimate -- it would be the equivalent of every man, woman and newborn child in this country placing a $25 bet on the outcome of the Super Bowl.
I don't use profanity on this site, so I'll just call it utter nonsense.

 

Where do you get that Sheridan is providing Neuharth's numbers? And why so obstinate about the fact that Americans gamble huge sums of money every year, a very great deal of it illegally?

Here are two more citations for roughly the same figures:

http://www.lvrj.com/news/15106641.html

The state's record handle for a Super Bowl is $94.5 million, set two years ago when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks. The total ''dipped'' to $93 million for last year's Super Bowl, when the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears.

It's the only sporting event for which the Nevada board records specific wagering figures. According to various estimates, between $6 billion and $10 billion is wagered worldwide on the Super Bowl through various outlets such as underground and offshore books.


http://online.casinocity.com/news/news.cfm?ArticleId=77533&issue=2-1-08

Overall, $10 billion is expected to be bet on Sunday's game. In Nevada alone, there is good reason to believe that this year's game will break the Super Bowl record of $94.5 million that was wagered on Super Bowl XL two years ago. And a significant portion of that money will be wagered on events that have absolutely nothing to do with the two football teams that will take the field at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

 

Sheridan was hired on Al's watch. Al's going to be loyal to the mothership . . . as misplaced as that loyalty may be, in individual instances.

 

So what? Set Sheridan aside. I've got three other sources that corroborate roughly the same figures. Which are going to be estimates anyway, because we're talking about illegal betting.

And twoback, you'll note that in all these cases the $6 billion to $10 billion figure is being used to describe, I think, worldwide totals.

 

To me, it doesn't get any bigger than Smucker's Stars on Ice.

 

There is no accurate estimate for illegal gambling. It's a made-up number, same as all that garbage about how more domestic abuse happens on Super Bowl Sunday.
Like I said: the numbers provided would average out to every single person in this country placing a $25 bet on the Super Bowl. There's just no way.

 

So because you've never actually met anyone who bets with a bookie, you're going to choose to believe no one bets sports illegally?

 

My favorite is the World Series. Just because of the tradition and prestige. Followed by March Madness (sheer unpredictability and amount of games to watch) and Kentucky Derby.