Sports Betting Is Changing the Way Fans Watch the NFL and NBA

The Bettor Watches More

A Nielsen Sports survey found that sports bettors watched 19 more NFL games per season than non-bettors. That’s essentially an entire additional month of game time. CRG Global’s research, commissioned by Variety Intelligence Platform, found that two-thirds of fans who bet on NFL games said they watched more than usual when they had money on the line, the highest proportion of any sport surveyed.

Critically, NFL and NBA betting also changes which games fans watch. Matchups that previously held no personal relevance, like a mid-week game between two unfamiliar teams, suddenly are must-watch TV.

In-Play Betting Has Rewired the Game-Watching Experience

Perhaps no development has more profoundly altered the viewing experience than live NBA and NFL betting. According to a 2024 study by the International Betting Integrity Association, 47% of all bets placed that year were in-play wagers.

In a world where short content is king, in-play betting has actually expanded viewers’ attention spans. Variety Intelligence Platform data showed that 29% of bettors said they paid full attention to blowout games when they had a stake in the outcome, compared to just 10% of non-bettors.

In-play betting is precisely why a spread can still be covered in garbage time, a total can swing on a late three-pointer, and a player prop on rebounds or assists remains live until the final buzzer.

The stop-start structure of both the NFL and NBA is ideal for live wagering. Research published in the Journal of Gambling Studies found that participants who placed in-play bets reported greater emotional investment in the game they were watching. One study participant noted they would never bet in-play unless they were watching live.

In-play betting also solves the dead game problem. Lopsided contests that once hemorrhaged viewers from the third quarter onward now retain a large share of the betting audience because there are always active positions to manage.

Leagues and Broadcasters Have Officially Embedded Betting Into the Product

The NFL and NBA have actively restructured their commercial infrastructure around betting. The NFL signed multi-year deals worth over $1 billion with DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars, granting these operators exclusive NFL branding, in-game betting integrations, and official sponsorship rights. 

FanDuel and DraftKings now contribute an estimated $260 million annually to the NFL’s bottom line. FanDuel, which held a 43% share of US sports betting revenue as of early 2025, has collaborated directly with broadcasters to embed real-time odds into live programming.

The NBA betting odds

The NBA has pursued a parallel track. Its betting partnerships with MGM Resorts and FanDuel provide sportsbooks with proprietary data feeds. The Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals have gone further, establishing in-arena sportsbooks that allow fans to wager physically inside the venue during games. 

The Mobile App Has Become the Second Screen

With 95% of all legal bets now placed via mobile apps, smartphones have become inseparable from the live sports experience. In 2024, there were an estimated 137.9 million online sports betting users active nationwide, a figure projected to reach 181.3 million by 2029. 

Platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings have engineered their products to function as parallel viewing companions. Live parlay builders, custom alerts tied to player performance thresholds, and real-time probability models updated on every possession allow users to process both the game itself and the evolving financial position of their wagers.

Fans who once focused on a single contest now track three or four simultaneously, checking parlay legs across different games. Red zone-style coverage and split-screen options have grown in popularity partly in response to this behavior. 

The NBA’s 82-game regular season, once criticized for producing too much inconsequential content, now offers bettors an almost daily market.

Advertising Saturation and Its Complications

Sportsbook advertising has become one of the dominant revenue streams for broadcasters and is inescapable even for fans who do not wager.

A collaborative study by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the University of Bristol found that gambling-related content appeared approximately once every 2.8 minutes during live sports broadcasts, accounting for roughly 20% of total air time during certain games. 

The NFL itself has acknowledged the tension. The league has voluntarily capped sportsbook advertisements at six per game and deliberately reduced the gambling industry’s footprint at the Super Bowl.