The Indicator's bet on the Super Bowl

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2022

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If sports bettors in the U.S. have a sacred holiday, it might be the Super Bowl.

Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:12.0	Ever since the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on sports betting in 2018, the
0:16.9	industry has blown up.
0:19.3	It's now legal in more than 30 states, and according to the American Gaming Association
0:23.8	sports books, you know the companies that take the bets, they brought in more than $3.9
0:28.6	billion in revenue last year.
0:31.0	And for people like Rufus Peabody, gambling on sports has become a livelihood.
0:36.1	How much money are we talking about here?
0:38.2	On a given week, I'll have on average about a million dollars in action.
0:42.5	Whoa!
0:43.5	That was way more than I was even thinking.
0:46.1	I was like, he's going to say high number, and then he just was made a tire than that.
0:50.5	It's less sexy than it sounds.
0:52.6	You know, it's a grind.
0:53.8	You're trying to earn a few percent on that.
0:55.7	If I can earn, you know, 3 to 5 percent on that, I'm very happy.
0:59.1	3 to 5 percent on a million dollars is 30 to 50,000.
1:01.8	I would not sniff at 30 to 50,000 dollars.
1:05.0	That is a lot of money.
1:06.5	And that's a typical week, but this past week was not a typical one for Rufus.
1:10.9	And that is because this past weekend was Super Bowl Sunday, which meant a lot more potential
1:16.2	winnings.
	...

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