Gambling Could Save ESPN, But Ruin Sports

Welcome to Bw Daily, the Bloomberg Businessweek newsletter, where we’ll bring you interesting voices, great reporting and the magazine’s usual charm every weekday. Let us know what you think by emailing our editor here! If this has been forwarded to you, click here to sign up.

Last fall, to coincide with the beginning of the NFL season, the online sportsbook PointsBet released a buzzy ad. It featured a middle-aged guy, sitting on a toilet, pawing at a smartphone. As the camera slowly pulled back, you could see him logging into the PointsBet app, where he was presented with an array of possible bets on the outcome of a football game. In the background, you could hear the doorbell ringing, dogs barking and the actual game he was betting on playing indistinctly. Of course, the man’s eyes weren’t focused on the players. He was busy arranging a single game parlay.