Funny, I don't gamble at all and I love football. How do you explain that?
Ditto
"Funny, I don't gamble at all and I love football. How do you explain that?"
You were discussing ratings, as an indicator of fan interest. Among the 'fans' who determine TV ratings or game attendance for any sport, you will have varying levels interest in that sport. And my point was/is, that in football, the gambling aspect brings in a far greater number of 'fans' who would otherwise be completely disinterested in the games. I remember from my office-working days that secretaries who couldn't name a single player on an NFL team would monitor the games over the weekend because they had three squares on a betting sheet, so they were in on the pool. Just the way it is.
Also, baseball plays 162 games in a season. Football teams play 16, and most of them are on Sundays, during the daytime, on what is an off-day for most people. Baseball plays every day of the week, and most teams still draw between 20,000 to 35,000 fans per night over a six month period, which is incredible.