Why Live Betting Is Changing How Fans Watch Games

The Attention Economy, Sports Edition

The 2022 Variety Intelligence Platform and CRG Global study found that two-thirds of those who bet on NFL games say they watch more than usual when gambling. ^[1]

The number that should make every sports media executive sit up straight is the blowout data. A one-sided game in the fourth quarter used to be the enemy of ratings. However, Variety's data showed that 29% of bettors paid full attention to blowouts if they had a stake in the game, compared to just 10% of non-bettors. ^[2]

Because in-play bets are resolved by what is happening in real time, a game that is dead from a competitive standpoint is very much alive if you’re wagering on next player to score or over/under 3rd quarter points. 

A 2026 study published in the Journal of Sports Economics by Salaga, Mills, and Brown found that a one standard deviation change in the timing of totals market outcome uncertainty elimination was associated with a reduction of over 175,000 average contest viewers. ^[3] In plain language, when a totals bet gets decided, people stop watching, but with live betting, the markets keep going, causing bettors to stick around. 

Credit: DraftKings Sportsbook – Screenshot captured by Chad Nagel on June 8

In 2024, NFL games made up 72 of the 100 most-watched US television broadcasts ^[4], and the 2025 regular season averaged 18.7 million viewers per game, the second-highest figure on record since Nielsen started tracking in 1988, up 10% from 2024. ^[5] Live betting is a significant contributor to keeping more people locked in for more of each game.

The Psychology Behind Live Betting & Sports Viewership

A 2020 study by Killick and Griffiths used qualitative interviews to examine why individuals engage in in-play betting and found a consistent theme: bettors reported they would not place live bets unless they were actively watching the game. ^[6] The betting and the viewing had fused into a single activity. A participant in the interview said that live betting makes you invested in the game and motivates you to watch every play. 

However, there are concerns about whether this devotion to sports is healthy. Gainsbury et al. found that bettors who made in-play wagers had a significantly higher average Problem Gambling Severity Index score of 8.76, compared to 3.68 for those who did not bet in-play. ^[7]

The Viewership-Betting Feedback Loop

Live betting creates a feedback loop where gambling drives viewership, which drives handle, which drives the sportsbooks to invest in faster data feeds and more live markets, which makes the in-game betting experience richer, which drives more viewership. 

The 2020 Altman Solon survey of 14,000 respondents worldwide found that in every country surveyed, bettors were far more likely to regularly watch sporting events than fans who did not bet.^[8] In the US specifically, the Variety/CRG Global data showed that 88% of bettors including MLS fans regularly watched sports while only 41% of non-bettors did. ^[8]

US sports leagues are taking a keen interest in this phenomenon and capitalizing on it. The NFL's data partnership with Genius Sports, originally valued at around $1 billion over four years when signed in 2021, was extended again in June 2025 through the 2030 season. 

The official data feed fuels in-game betting on the NFL, including player props, microbetting, and same-game parlays, and Genius Sports says it now powers over 98% of the legalized US betting market. ^[9] The NFL was granted 18.5 million Genius shares in the original deal and a further 4 million for the 2023 extension. ^[10]
 

Credit: FanDuel Sportsbook – Screenshot captured by Felix Dubler on June 8

The NBA named DraftKings and FanDuel its co-official sports betting partners in November 2021, expanding multi-year deals that gave both operators the right to integrate NBA assets, logos, and game highlights across their platforms. ^[11] FanDuel, whose relationship with the league dates to 2014, became the exclusive presenting partner of the weekly NBABet Show on NBA TV and gained the right to display its odds directly on the Games page of NBA.com. ^[12]