Risk Play: Sports Betting, Prediction Markets, & Super Bowl LX 2/5/26

Squawk Pod

CNBC

Business News, News, Investing, Business

4.2 • 543 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Shares of Google parent Alphabet fell after its quarterly report, despite beating estimates. Citi analyst Ron Josey explains the weight of AI spending on profit margins. After President Trump gave an interview to NBC’s Tom Llamas, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) discusses the President’s pick for Fed chair, Kevin Warsh. Sen. Moreno also weighs in on the Department of Justice’s case against the current Fed chair, Jay Powell. Ahead of the Super Bowl, CNBC’s Contessa Brewer reports on the weekend wagers boosting traffic on sportsbooks and prediction markets. Jonathan Cohen, author and head of the American Institute for Boys and Men Sports Betting Policy Hub, underscores the risks of game day bets for financial and mental wellbeing. Plus, fallout from the Epstein files continues. Ron Josey - 4:42 Senator Bernie Moreno - 17:12 Contessa Brewer - 27:08 Jonathan Cohen - 31:57 In this episode: Becky Quick, @BeckyQuick Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin Cameron Costa, @CameronCostaNY

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Bring in show music, please.
0:02.5	This is SquawkPod and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa.
0:09.0	On today's episode, Alphabet blows past expectations in its latest quarter, but AI spending might be weighing on profits.
0:19.0	City analyst Ron Josie explains.
0:22.4	I think you should be investing in growth,
0:23.9	and I think you should be investing in gain as much possible share as you can.
0:27.4	The potential confirmation of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair
0:31.7	is in focus on Wall Street and in Washington.
0:35.4	Banking Committee Senator Bernie Moreno joins us.
0:38.3	I hope that we can put all this political nonsense aside and let's get Kevin Warsh confirmed,
0:44.3	because most importantly, it is a huge upgrade from what we have right now running the Fed.
0:49.3	And it is Super Bowl weekend. Americans are expected to move well over a billion and a half dollars for bets,
0:57.8	wagers, and trades relating to the big game.
1:00.3	Author Jonathan Cohen says sports books and prediction markets can be a slippery slope for society,
1:08.2	especially for young men.
1:10.7	What I think we should do is make it all but impossible for someone who's gambling,
1:14.5	like me, $10, $12 here and there, for that to be the start of a dangerous journey,
1:18.6	for that to be a gateway drug into a more serious gambling problem.
1:22.6	Those stories plus Amazon's shadow of honor and more fallout from the Epstein files.
1:30.0	It's Thursday, February 5th, 2026, and SquawkPod begins right now.
1:36.8	Stand Becky by in three, two, one.
1:39.7	Cue, please.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CNBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of CNBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.